A New Way to Duel
by Gamer2k4
Summary: A story that takes place about 40 years after the original Yugioh! series. While participating in a study of ways to enhance the dueling experience, several teenagers learn some of the deeper secrets behind the Shadow Games. Large, infrequent updates.
1. The First Duel

The poster was one of the more intriguing ones on a board filled with dozens. "Experienced duelists requested for participation in a scientific study." No further description was given, except for the time and location of the study. Ethan studied the poster, considering the proposition. He was one of the few players of Duel Monsters in his town, and considered himself to be fairly skilled. Twenty or thirty years ago, someone like him would be sent to a special duel academy, to refine his or her knowledge of the game. However, every school like that had been closed for some time, after everyone realized how foolish it was to teach teenagers dueling skills and nothing else.

Duel Monsters wasn't as popular as it once was; many new games were constantly being developed, and there hadn't been any new cards in ages. To most, the game has ceased being interesting. There were only a few competitive deck types, and the cards required for those decks were very expensive. Also, every combo had been thought of, and every strategy had been used to death. There was no longer anything innovative or exciting about the game.

It was this fact that made the poster intriguing. Someone, and likely someone of influence, had shown an interest in Duel Monsters. Ethan began to feel an excited anticipation. He immediately made up his mind to participate in the study, and jotted down the address and time in one of his notebooks. Just then, the class bell rang, alerting Ethan that class had started. He quickly returned the notebook to his backpack and ran to his next class.

--

The day had finally arrived. Ethan looked through his deck once more, affirming that all of his cards were there. He was very proud of his deck, especially since it had held its own against many stronger competitors. Ethan put the deck in his backpack with the rest of his collection. After a quick breakfast, he got on his bike and set off for the lab.

Ethan arrived about ten minutes early, and was directed to the lounge. There were already a few people there, and he sat down next to a girl who was probably thirteen or fourteen.

"Hey, are you a duelist too?" Ethan turned to see the girl's excited face looking at him. He looked at her blankly, then replied, "No, I'm just here for the free food." Seeing her confused look, Ethan sighed, "Yes, I'm a duelist too. Isn't everyone in here?"

"Oh…of course!" she laughed. "I guess I'm just a little excited. I heard that they're going to be testing some sort of new dueling system, and since I love dueling and everything related to dueling, I had to come! My name is Sara. What's yours?"

"I'm Ethan. A new dueling system?"

"Well, I don't know any specifics, of course. I don't know if it's a new apparatus, or new rules, or new cards, or anything else. But apparently it's going to revolutionize dueling! I can't wait!"

A new dueling system, mused Ethan. Well, the game definitely needed a new hook. It wasn't as popular as it used to be, and anything that brought in new players to compete against was alright in his book. Abruptly Ethan realized that Sara was still talking.

"I'm not too good of a duelist yet, but I know the rules, and I love my deck! My fairies have never let me down, and I feel so close to them every time I play! It's almost as if there's a bond between us!"

"Hold on," said Ethan. "Duel Monsters is and always has been a strategy game, and nothing more. If you think that the monsters are real, there's something wrong with you."

Unfazed, Sara replied, "Believe what you want, but I'm sure we have a connection. How do you design your deck if not from your heart?"

"It's called strategy," Ethan said. "You pick cards that work well together, and that give you the best chance of winning. Treating the game like a fairy tale is sure to cause you to lose."

"Fairy tale! That's funny, because I use fairies in my deck!" laughed Sara.

Ethan groaned. The pun was no coincidence, but apparently Sara didn't realize that. How clueless was this girl? As Ethan started thinking of an excuse to leave, the door opened. Finally, thought Ethan, we can get going and I won't have to deal with her anymore.

The professor entered the room and began to speak. "Hello everyone. My name is Professor Watson, and I'd like to welcome you all to my facility. I trust you all know the reason we are here. If not, let me explain. My colleagues and I have been doing some fascinating research on Duel Monsters technology. We have found a new way of dueling involving special atmospheric projectors. The experience is enhanced almost to the point of reality. I've done some preliminary studies, but the technology's true potential has yet to be tested. I would like two volunteers to participate in a duel."

Naturally, the exuberant Sara's hand shot up first. "I'm ready! Pick me! I'm a great duelist!"

"Alright, we'll take you, and, just for simplicity's sake, the boy next to you," smiled the professor. Ethan looked up, realized what the professor said, and quickly checked the other side of Sara. There was no one there. Well, I may not be rid of her, thought Ethan, but at least I can defeat her in a duel.

"You two, follow me," said Professor Watson. "My assistant, Professor Johnson, will lead the rest of you to the viewing area. You won't want to miss this," he finished with a smile. He turned to leave, and  
Ethan and Sara quickly followed him.

--

As they walked down the hall, Professor Watson began explaining the game to the two duelists. "The layout and turn structure are the same as you remember: maximum hand size of six cards, no more than five monsters, and all that. Playing cards is also the same: one monster per turn, traps can't be activated right away, and so on. The core of the game is the same."

"So it's simply a cosmetic change?" inquired Ethan.

"Well, the appearance is drastically improved, yes. But there's more to it than that. You know the text on the cards? All of the abilities? Forget them."

"Forget them?" gasped Sara. "But if you take away the special abilities, there's nothing left! Whoever has the strongest monsters wins!"

"Not so," the professor replied, with one of his characteristic smiles. "I don't know if you're aware of this, but Duel Monsters has its roots in ancient Egypt. These monsters were once real, summoned by sorcerers to battle each other! Naturally, the creator of Duel Monsters wanted to give the players some sense of what this was like, so he simplified the monsters' special powers and incorporated them into the game. Many of the cards, like Burst Stream of Destruction or Release Restraint, were already the abilities of their corresponding monster. Or, for another example, consider Skelengel. Its game text allows the player to draw a card, but in Egypt, there were no cards to draw! It's very likely that the real Skelengel gave the user some sort of advantage, but what is was is unknown. However, we may have found a way to restore the game to what it was!"

"Real monsters? Impossible," said Ethan, ignoring the superior look that Sara was giving him. "And now a game without rules? I can't believe I showed up for this."

"Believe me, you'll be glad you came," replied the professor. "Here we are at the dueling arena. As I said, you'll find the layout to be familiar. Take your positions, and let me know when you are ready. I'll start up the projectors and say one or two more things, then you're on your own."

"Here we go!" exclaimed Sara. "This is going to be incredible!"

"Alright, we might as well begin," said Ethan as he shuffled his deck.

--

The lights went out, and several gold spheres in the corners of the room began to glow. Suddenly, the darkness was replaces with a sort of hazy gray. "It's ready!" came the professor's voice. "Since this is still in the experimental stages, we'll go easy the first time. I'll start you both off with 2000 life points, but I don't want either of you to make a direct attack on each other. Stick with monster combat for now. Also, try different commands with your monsters. Trust your intuition to determine the card effects. Ready? Duel!"

This is going to be tricky, thought Ethan. I'm a practical duelist, not a theoretical one. I learn the rules and I use them. And now I have to make up the rules? Well, here goes.

Ethan drew six cards and examined his hand. "I'll play the Unknown Warrior of Fiend," he said, placing the card onto his display. There was a hissing sound from behind him, as his monster stepped out from the haze and unto the field.

Startled, Ethan looked up from where the monster had emerged. Well, new cinematics were always welcome, he thought. "I'll finish my turn by playing one card face down."

"Sorry, Ethan, but your monster is too weak for my Keldo!" cried Sara, as she placed the card on her display. "I'll attack your Unknown Warrior!"

"Bad move," replied Ethan. "I activate my Reinforcements trap card!" Immediately two monsters identical to his own emerged, and rushed at the Keldo. They grabbed it and dragged it down through the haze.

"What?!" exclaimed Sara incredulously, as her life points changed to 1700. "That not what the card does!"

"I know that's not what it does!" yelled Ethan. "What's going on, Professor?"

"You called in reinforcements," stated the professor. "They came."

Ethan blinked, trying to make sense of what he just saw. "Wow!" said Sara. "This game is fantastic! Now I want to try something!" she added, playing a card face down. "Your move!"

Ethan sighed. Amateur, he thought. You basically just told me that you played a trap. "You shouldn't have said that," he told Sara. "But, since I'm prohibited from attacking you, you're off the hook. I'll end my turn."

"Shouldn't have said that? We're playing for fun! Experimenting! Who cares who wins or loses!" said Sara as she drew. "And speaking of experimenting, I'd think I'll try something. Come on out, Fairy Guardian!"

"So it's a stalemate," said Ethan. "You'll have to do better than that to beat me."

"Oh, I will," replied Sara. "I'll also play my Dark Energy card!"

"On Fairy Guardian?" asked Ethan. "That won't work. The card clearly states that it only works on fiend monsters!"

"Is that so? Take a look at the field," answered Sara.

Sure enough, something was happening. Long black streams emerged from the Ethan's monster, connecting it with the Fairy Guardian. Slowly, a dark aura formed around the Fairy Guardian, as the Unknown Warrior seemed to fade away. The shadowy tendrils joining the monsters disappeared, leaving Ethan gaping at the field.

"Fairy Guardian, attack!" cried Sara.

Ethan's monster disintegrated under the force of the Fairy Guardian, leaving him with 1400 life points. "I thought that might happen," said Sara with a grin of satisfaction. "Normally, Dark Energy would bring out the dark powers from within a fiend monster, increasing its strength. However, my fairy didn't have any dark powers. Dark Energy still needs a source, so it stole the power from the only dark monster on the field: your Unknown Warrior of Fiend. Your monster lost 300 attack points, and my monster gained those 300 attack points. That's how it beat you."

Ethan couldn't believe what he was hearing. This girl was altering the rules of Duel Monsters to gain an advantage! He was a little surprised that it worked too, since every duel disk and duel arena had the rules programmed into them. One could change the technology to use new rules, but not in the middle of a duel! Maybe the professor had designed some self-aware system?

Then again, this duel was like nothing he had ever played. All of the effects were logical, and the graphical overhaul was a nice touch. Maybe the rules were enhanced, and Sara just got lucky? Maybe she had heard a bit about the game from someone else? Maybe…

But no. He could spent all the time he wanted on maybes. The duel was here and now, and it was his turn. Ethan suddenly realized that he would have to think on his feet to win this one. All of the strategy he learned was no longer applicable. The next draw could hold any number of possibilities, and none of them were ones he would have prepared for.

--

"Wake up! It's your turn!" came Sara's voice.

Ethan look at her in annoyance, then drew his next card. As he looked at his hand, a strategy began to form in his mind. Well, it certainly wasn't a part of the rules, but if Dark Energy had worked for Sara, maybe this would work for him.

Ethan placed the card he just drew on the display. "I summon Tripwire Beast, in attack mode! Next, I play the magic card Heavy Storm!"

The haze above them darkened, and Ethan was sure that he could feel a strong wind. No, he thought, there's no way this is real. Could Sara feel this too?

Ethan looked across the field, and was a bit shocked to see Sara's hair blowing around. Wind? Here? He peered into the haze, trying to see if there were fans of some sort causing the disturbance. Just then, a bright flash of light startled him out of his concentration. Lightning? No…

But Sara's face down card was gone, and Ethan was sure he could smell just the slightest bit of ozone. Either this was the most realistic simulation he had ever seen, or there was something seriously wrong here. As Ethan tried to regain his composure, he hoped it was the former.

Wait. Something else was happening too. His Tripwire Beast was now crackling with electricity, emanating a bright yellow glow. Ethan smiled smugly to himself, pleased that his gamble had paid off. "You threw me off a little last turn, but now it's time to strike back!" he called to Sara. "Tripwire Beast! Attack her Fairy Guardian!"

A bright flash briefly obscured his view. When the haze returned, Ethan's monster was alone on the field, and Sara's life points were reduced to 1300. But she was positively beaming.

"This is the most amazing duel I've ever played!" She shouted. "Everything seems so real, and all of the effects are just as you'd imagine them! I can't wait to draw my next card!"

"Go for it," Ethan offered. "I'm done with my turn."

Sara drew a card and added it to her hand. She looked at the three cards in her hand a bit expectantly, apparently hoping for some new card combination. But apparently her search was in vain, because she simply said, "I'll play Spirit of the Harp in defense mode. I may not be able to do much," Sara added, "but I can't wait to see what you'll do!"

Ethan drew a card and smiled as he saw what it was. "Wish granted!" he told Sara. "I play Polymerization!"

Sara looked surprised for a brief moment. "Tripwire Beast isn't in any fusions." Then she laughed. "But why should that stop us? Let's see what you've got!"

"Well, since you asked…" smiled Ethan. "Tripwire Beast, merge with M-Warrior #1 to form Electromagnetic Beast!" The Magnetic Warrior emerged onto the field and immediately seemed to liquefy. The fluid covered Ethan's Tripwire Beast, which shone a bright bluish white. The glow dimmed, and a fearsome looking creature stood on the field.

"I'm not done yet," said Ethan. He selected a card and grinned at the irony of it. "I play Fairy Meteor Crush!"

"Haha! Fairy Crush!" laughed Sara. "And you're using it to crush my fairy! Do you realize that this is the second time today you've done something like that? What are the odds?"

Ethan shook his head. He couldn't take much more of this. "Pretty good, actually," he said under his breath. "Go, Electromagnetic Beast! Destroy her Spirit of the Harp with your Polarity Blast attack!" Blue lightning crackled around Sara's monster before consuming it entirely. Her life points dropped to 1100.

Ethan looked on, satisfied with the results. "Your move," he told Sara.

"Thanks for that," Sara smiled. "For when two of my fairies are in the graveyard, their energies return as the Soul of Purity and Light!"

Ethan wasn't too worried. It was a strong monster, but still weaker than his Electromagnetic Beast. However, Sara's next words surprised him.

"Alone, my Soul may be weak. But my next card will bring out her true strength! Sky Scourge Invicil, I summon you to the field! Unleash the power of Soul of Purity and Light!"

Immediately, Sara's Soul of Purity and Light engulfed Ethan's Electromagnetic Beast. A whitish-gray cloud surrounded his monster, blocking it from sight. The cloud seemed to expand momentarily, then was quickly sucked into Invicil. Ethan blinked, not believing what he saw. There, on his side of the field, were his Magnetic Warrior and Tripwire Beast! What had happened to his Electromagnetic Beast?

"Surprised?" asked Sara. "Sky Scourge can take the power of any Light monster used to summon him, and use it to cancel the effects of all spell cards. That includes your Polymerization!"

Ethan stared in disbelief. But Sara's next words shook him out of his stupor.

"Sky Scourge Invicil, attack his Magnetic Warrior!"

Ethan's Magnetic Warrior disintegrated. His life points dropped to 200. 

--

Ethan's mind was reeling. Sara had 900 more life points than he did, and he was looking at what had to be one of the strongest monsters in Sara's deck. Even worse, the anti-magic energy was still on the field, meaning his spells were useless, and his only monster was a relatively weak one. How could this happen? This girl was an amateur, almost a joke. Yet here she was, far in the lead, while Ethan was doing his best to keep up.

It might just be the new rules, or even luck of the draw. However, Ethan realized, it's a poor duelist that can be beaten by luck. Skill and strategy determined the outcome of duels, not chance. He immediately resolved to win, to show Sara and everyone watching that he was a skilled duelist, and that no amount of luck would defeat him.

Ethan drew a card and put it into his hand. "I'll play one card face down, then switch my Tripwire Beast into defense mode," he said. "Your turn."

Sara took her next card, then smiled happily. "You already know my next move. Invicil, destroy his Tripwire Beast!"

"Hold on," said Ethan. "I activate Shadow Spell!" Huge metal chains shot out from the haze around them, ensnaring Sara's monster. "The binding force of Shadow Spell decreases Invicil's strength and prevents him from performing any actions. That means he can no longer destroy my spell cards!"

Sara frowned. "I guess I'll have to end my turn then. I'll finish by playing two cards face down. Your move."

The sudden change in Sara's mood surprised Ethan, but he decided to ignore it for now, and drew his next card. "I'll switch my Tripwire Beast back into attack mode, and equip it with my Electro-Whip!" As he played the card, a giant, sparking whip appeared in the talons of the Tripwire Beast. The restrained Invicil glowed bright white and started struggling in response, but nothing happened. The glow died down.

Ethan smiled. Another gamble had paid off. He definitely was learning the new game. It was time to go for the jackpot. "Take a look at your monster," he called to Sara. "The metal chains do a good job of containing your monster. However, they also make an excellent conductor for my Electro-Whip!" He paused to let it sink in, then shouted, "Tripwire Beast! Attack with Shocking Snare!"

The whip shot out and wrapped around Invicil. "No!" cried Sara. Her monster was immediately covered with violently sparking metal. With a bright flash, Invicil disappeared from the field.

Sara glanced at her life point counter, which now read 500. "Not bad," she told Ethan evenly. "But you haven't seen the last of my Invicil!"

Ethan looked at her, a bit shocked. What had happened? Just before, she was laughing and complimenting him on all of his moves. Now she had a cold look in her eyes.

"Invicil, return from the grave! I activate Rope of Life!" As Sara discarded the only card in her hand, a rope reached down into the haze. It stopped briefly, pulled taut, then began to lift something out. Slowly, her Sky Scourge Invicil was returned to the field, but it looked much different. The haze around them seemed to stick to Invicil, and its eyes had a red glow.

"Rope of Life is an evil card, despite the name," Sara explained. "It first requires a sacrifice of my entire hand. Then, it calls forth a warrior from the grave. But the restored monster is now a soulless shell! You can see that its white aura is gone. The Soul of Purity and Light remains in the graveyard, and now dark energies power my monster!"

Ethan looked at her Shadow Scourge Invicil with a vague apprehension. It was definitely a monstrosity. "If you despise the card so much, why did you use it?" asked Ethan.

"I may hate Rope of Life," replied Sara, "but I hate seeing my Invicil in the graveyard even more. Also, if he's on the field, I can restore him to his original state, which I now intend to do. Reveal second face down card! Soul of the Pure!"

A small fairy appeared, flew around Invicil several times, and disappeared into its chest. The red glow in Invicil's eyes died down, and the haze seemed to slide off it.

"The dark energies counteracted the normal effect of that card, which would usually increase my life points," Sara said. "Instead, Sky Scourge Invicil lost some of his strength. But it was well worth it, because my Invicil is no longer a slave to the shadows."

Ethan looked at the field, then at his hand, then back at the field. Sky Scourge Invicil was still strong enough to destroy his Tripwire Beast, and there he could do nothing about it. He couldn't even put his monster into defense mode, since it had attacked. "That's it," he said. "There's nothing I can do. Your turn."

Sara drew, then solemnly declared, "It's time to end this. Invicil, attack his Tripwire Beast and wipe out the rest of his life points."

Ethan couldn't believe it. He had lost. He stared in desperation at his declining life point total. Suddenly, just as it hit zero, he felt a sharp pain, as though someone was driving an icy knife into him. However, just as the pain was becoming unbearable, the lights went on, the haze lifted, and his pain ceased.

"What's the matter?" called Sara. "Losing wasn't THAT hard on you, was it?"

"Ethan looked up, shaking his head. "It…it was nothing. Don't worry about it." As they dismounted the platform, he added, "Nice duel. You played well."

"So did you," smiled Sara. "I guess it's tricky playing with unwritten rules. But don't worry. I'm sure we'll both catch on really soon."

Yes, thought Ethan. I'll master this game no matter what it takes.


	2. The Aftermath

Professor Watson approached the duelists. "Great job, both of you!" he said. "You seem to be learning very quickly," he added with a smile.

Dr. Watson turned his attention to Ethan. "What happened at the end there? Did you get hurt?"

"I'm fine," Ethan replied. "Don't worry."

"It's my job to worry," returned the professor. "If my system is injuring duelists, I need to know why and how to prevent it!"

"Just what is your system, anyway?" asked Ethan, changing the subject. "How does it work?"

"I wish I could tell you," replied Dr. Watson. "But the truth is, I don't actually know how it works. No one does. Let's head back to the viewing area and I'll explain what we do know."

When Ethan and Sara reached the viewing area, they were surrounded by the other excited duelists.

"Awesome duel!" "Nice move at the end there!" "That was incredible!" "Great combos, Ethan!"

When the praise died down, Ethan and Sara took their seats. Sara was back to her chipper self, noted Ethan. He wondered why Invicil was so important to her.

The professor moved to the front of the room and addressed the duelists. "Hello, everyone. You've just seen the amazing effects of our new dueling technology. Now I'd like to tell you the background of it.

"The golden spheres that you see are the key to all of this. They were found in the basement of a museum, and were given to us for study. This spheres had no distinguishing markings, except for a smooth, flat part. This area was found on each of the spheres, and it seemed as though some projection had been chiseled off or removed somehow. Naturally, we have no idea what that feature might have been.

"The idea that something was removed from these is unusual, because we are unable to damage them in any way. A chemical test reveals that the objects are composed of gold, which makes the situation even more baffling. Gold is a soft metal, and is easily deformed. But we can't even dent these.

"Despite not know the composition of the spheres, we decided to make other tests on them. The tests produced no results, until about a month ago. We were performing a conductivity test, when something happened. The air around the sphere became a purplish-gray color. This excited us very much. We immediately programmed our machines to apply electric and electromagnetic charges to a sphere at various power levels.

"If a process takes a while, I don't mind it if the other scientists occupy themselves. In this case, the scientists decided to play a quick game of Duel Monsters. That's when strange things began to happen. Every time someone played a card, the purple haze reacted. At first the scientists dismissed it as the results of the energy variations, but they soon realized that it was actually reacting to them playing the cards.

"This astounding discovery led the scientists to couple several of the spheres together to generate a larger field. The results surpassed our expectations. The holograms appeared to be real! Also, they seemed to be acting independently of the duel discs!

"Understanding the implications this had for Duel Monsters, we immediately constructed a duel arena powered by these amazing spheres. The next step was to get real duelists to test it. That's why you're all here."

The professor paused, allowing them to absorb the information.

"Wait a moment," said Ethan. "Did you say that you can increase the power of the spheres? That we weren't using the arena to its full potential?"

"Well, yes," admitted the professor. "Different energy levels appear to alter some aspect of the game as well, but we're not sure what it is. Also, with the monsters being as real as they are, we don't know what will happen if a duelist experiences a direct attack. Your condition at the end of the duel still worries me, Ethan. I don't know what happened, and I don't want to subject any of you to discomfort of any sort."

"It was nothing," replied Ethan. "And even if that pain WAS caused by the duel, it was worth it."

"I'm glad you feel that way," replied the professor, "because we're not finished here. There are more tests that I'd like to perform today. That means I'll need two more volunteers."

The professor produced two modified duel disks. Instead of the hologram projector, these had smaller gold spheres in them. "These special duel discs are capable of producing the same atmospheric effects as our duel arena," Dr. Watson said. "The good news is that they're fully portable. The bad news is that these are still prototypes, and we do not have permission from KaibaCorp to distribute them. Also, we have a limited supply of the spheres, which means that quantities will remain low.

"But there's no reason why you can't test them!" the professor smiled. "Who would like the opportunity to do so?"

Two of the duelists were selected and given the duel disks. "We'll raise the energy level for this duel. Set your disks to Alpha-12B. The four dials controlling this are on the bottom."

"Hey," one of the duelists remarked, "these go up to Epsilon-33C."

"That's right," the professor replied. "Our tests with the spheres show that they react to almost 150 different energy levels. We've determined that there are four different categories of energy that can be supplied, but we only understand the effects of one of them."

"Which one is that?" asked the other duelist.

"That B on the end means that duelists have 4000 life points apiece, and that direct attacks are allowed. You're still not able to use spell cards to directly damage your opponent, though."

"Really? Hmmm," said the second duelist, returning the deck he had selected and producing another.

"Alright? You may begin when you're ready," said the Professor.

--

The duel began, but Ethan wasn't even aware of it. The professor's mention of the higher energy levels left him deep in thought. Higher energy levels meant more intense duels, and the heightened intensity would make winning that much more satisfying. And Ethan was determined to win.

The last duel was a fluke. It was nothing more than an introduction to the game, but even that shouldn't be an excuse. Sara had no right to win the duel. She hardly knew how to play. He looked over at her contemptuously.

So these duels twist the rules of Duel Monsters? Let them. He would master this new style. He would manipulate the rules himself, creating the most fiendish combos imaginable. Was it just a game? Maybe. But it the essence of any game is competition, and the purpose of competition is victory.

He would beat Sara. He would beat everyone. Ethan recalled the sensation he experienced when he lost. The inexplicable pain bothered him. Sure it had hurt, but that wasn't a big deal. Anyone could handle pain, and it hadn't lasted long at all. The pain itself wasn't what was bothering him. The fact that it coincided with his loss was. Some bug, some malfunction in the system? Or more than that?

Whatever it was, Ethan resolved never to have to feel it again. He would build a deck to take full advantage of the new rules, and it would never be defeated. As he left the building, deep in his thoughts, he never heard the scream behind him, nor the cries of the many spectators.

--

Ethan looked at the cards before him. Some were in small groups, some were cast aside, and a lot were in stacks on the table next to him. He was also holding several in each hand, comparing them and trying to establish their effects. The phone's loud ring startled him, shaking him from his thoughts. Ethan looked at the phone, then back at his cards, trying to ignore it. The phone rang again. With some annoyance, he put down the cards in his left hand and moved to pick it up. He lifted the receiver halfway through the third ring.

"Hello?"

"Ethan, where were you yesterday? Did you hear what happened?"

Ethan sighed. Sara. "Kind of late to be calling, isn't it?"

"What are you talking about? It's only 9:00. I just got up!"

Ethan looked at his clock and groaned. He had stayed up the entire night, and his deck wasn't even close to being completed. "Can it wait? I'm a little busy right now." As an afterthought, "How did you get this number?" He looked at the cards in his hand, not really interested in her response.

"Ethan, this is important! Something went wrong during a duel yesterday! Where were you, anyway? One minute you were there, and the next, you were gone. I thought you were interested in the new dueling systems," Sara added.

Ethan tucked the phone in with his shoulder and moved back to his cards. "My deck was obviously inadequate for the new rules. I went home to rebuild it. If someone like you could beat it, there's something wrong," he replied. "That reminds me. We need a rematch once I'm done."

"A rematch? Who cares about our duel? This is much more important! Yesterday -"

Ethan threw down his cards. "Who cares?" he cut her off. "I care. Dueling is a measure of one's strategic and tactical capabilities. It demonstrates one's intelligence and ability to react to unexpected events. Yesterday, I fell short. I intend to fix that."

"Ethan, anything can happen in a duel. You might never draw a low-level monster. You might play a card that helps your opponent. You might have a good card, then have to discard it. Beating someone doesn't mean you are better than them."

"It should mean that," Ethan said, picking up his cards. "A good deck doesn't have any shortcomings. Mine won't. When my deck is finished, every duel will only end in the total annihilation of my opponent."

"Don't say that! Don't you remember what…" Sara stopped. "That's right. You weren't there. You don't know what happened."

Ethan was slightly taken aback by her somber tone, but he was too tired and too preoccupied to really care. However, he was definitely ready for this call to end, and it seemed that Sara wouldn't hang up until she told him whatever was so important. "Alright. What happened." It was more of a prompt than a question.

"Well, as soon as the duel began, we could tell something was wrong. Whenever a monster was destroyed or damage was taken, the duelists looked like they were under some sort of stress."

"Is that right," mumbled Ethan, eying the card in his hand. He wasn't listening to her at all; instead, he was thinking about the possible combos that this card could offer.

"Naturally, each duelist began to worry what would happen if they lost. Neither of them wanted to forfeit due to the same apprehension, so they continued dueling. Each of them was dueling their hardest to win. Under any other circumstances, it would have been an amazing duel!"

"Interesting…" said Ethan, more in response to his own thoughts than to Sara. This card, along with a few others like it, could really help him control the duel. He began searching through one of his stacks of cards.

"Finally, Marcus, the duelist with several decks – did you notice that, or had you left already? – ritual summoned a monster I had never seen before. The other, Kyle, activated a trap, but Marcus's monster was unaffected by it."

Ethan found the card he was searching for, and turned his attention to some of the cards on the floor. These were from the packs he had just opened recently. He knew there was a certain card there that would be perfect for his new strategy. There it was!

"Marcus attacked, and as his life points hit zero, Kyle slumped over. He was conscious, I think…but he didn't talk, and he didn't react to anything. He was capable of moving around, but it was like he went into shock. The professor said his skin was cold and clammy. No one knows what happened, and no one wanted to duel after that! What do you think happened, Ethan? Ethan?"

But Ethan had put down the phone and was looking through his cards once more. He moved mechanically from pile to pile, from stack to stack, picking out a card here and there, and adding them to his new deck.

--

The bell startled Ethan from his sleep. He lifted his head and sighed. He had slept through the entire class. Ethan grabbed his backpack and slowly rose from his desk. As he was going through the door, another student quipped, "I've heard you learn more when you stay awake."

Ethan stopped and looked at him distastefully. "Not now, Zach. I'm not in the mood."

Zach looked at him quizzically. "What's that matter with you? It was just a joke. Are you feeling alright?"

"I was up all night redesigning my deck," Ethan admitted, a little apologetic.

"A new deck? Great! I've made some changes to my deck, too! Interested in a duel? Maybe it will help you lighten up a bit."

A normal duel? Ethan had been so obsessed with the new rules that he had completely forgotten about the original style. But he didn't want to go back, either. Nothing could compare to the new arena and the new gameplay. "I…I don't think so. Not right now."

"Scared? Worried that I'll beat you? Don't have the skills?" Zach taunted.

Ethan was beginning to become annoyed. "I told you, I don't want to duel you. We both know that I'm better than you, but that's beside the point. I'm not interested in a duel."

"Prove it then. Prove that you're better than me," challenged Zach.

Ethan looked at him condescendingly. He didn't have time for this. All he wanted to do was get back to the laboratory and duel the new way. Could it even be called the new way? After all, it was a recreation of the ancient Egyptian shadow games, or at least that's what the professor said. Ethan wanted to play the game in its true form, not some watered down modern version.

"…Ethan?"

Ethan focused on Zach. "Fine. I'll duel you," he snapped. He pulled his duel disk out of his backpack, and Zach did the same. Zach held out his deck for Ethan to shuffle. Ethan, deck in hand, hesitated, then gave his to Zach.

"Good luck," said Zach as he shuffled the deck.

"True duelists don't need luck," returned Ethan, as he handed Zach his deck back.

Zach looked at him questioningly. "Ethan…what's the matter with you? You weren't like this yesterday," he said, a bit concerned.

Ethan ignored him. "I'll begin," he said drawing six cards. "First, I'll activate Double Summon. This lets me play two monsters instead of one. I'll play Protector of the Sanctuary in attack mode, and another monster face down."

"Protector of the Sanctuary?" asked Zach. "So what if I can't draw any cards outside of my Draw phase. I don't have any cards that would let me, anyway."

Ethan shook his head disdainfully. "Next, I play Book of Taiyou, flipping my Morphing Jar face up!" He discarded his hand and drew five new cards.

Zach looked at Ethan's monsters in disbelief. He reluctantly discarded his hand.

Ethan examined his new hand. "I'll play a card face down and end my turn."

Zach reached for his deck, but Ethan stopped him. "Hold on. I activate my face down card, Drop Off! The card you would have drawn is sent straight to your graveyard."

Zach slowly put the card into the graveyard. Ethan looked at Zach's empty hand. "Done? Thought so. I guess that means it's my turn again." He drew a card and added it to his hand. "And now, the card that will win the game for me. Come forth, Yata-Garasu!"

A strange purple raven appeared on the field. "What is that?" asked Zach.

"Yata-Garasu is a rare type of card known as a Spirit Monster," replied Ethan. "These monsters return to my hand at the end of each turn. But it doesn't really matter in this case, because whenever Yata-Garasu deals damage to you, you skip your next Draw phase!"

Zach looked at the new monster, stunned. "But…but that means…"

"Exactly!" exclaimed Ethan. "You have no hand, no cards on the field, and you can never draw. Also, you'll have 2000 points of damage coming at you each turn from my monsters' attacks. I win!"

Zach opened his mouth as if to say something, then closed it. He looked at the field in despair.

Ethan collected his cards and put his duel disk back in his backpack. "The next time you want to duel, meet me at Dr. Watson's laboratory. Until then, maybe you can go challenge some first graders."

Ethan turned and walked away. Zach stared at him, still speechless.

--

Ethan walked down the hallway towards the school exit, thinking hard. The victory over Zach was expected, and as such, it wasn't very satisfying. Ethan realized he needed to play against much better duelists in order to prove his skills. Also, the duels had to be played on the new arenas. No other setting would be acceptable, as no other setting would test a duelist's true abilities. Ethan considered his requirements. There was one other thing that was necessary as well.

There was only one test that would fulfill these conditions: a tournament, held at the laboratory. He would need to convince the professor that a tournament was in everyone's best interests. That might be slightly problematic, though. He seemed to recall Sara calling him…something had gone wrong during a duel? What was it?

Having reached the exit, Ethan pushed open the double doors and headed for the bike rack. No, he thought. He didn't remember the conversation that well, but Sara was probably just being overdramatic. No matter, Ethan decided. He mounted his bike and headed towards the laboratory.

--

Ethan arrived at the laboratory and went to the front desk. "I would like to meet with Professor Watson," he told the receptionist.

"I'm sorry," replied the woman, "but the professor is not receiving visitors. He's very upset about some events that happened yesterday."

"I know," responded Ethan. "That's what I came to see him about. I was here yesterday, and I want to discuss the situation."

The receptionist looked at him skeptically, "Well…I don't think that will make too much of a difference, but I'll give him a call." She picked up the phone and dialed quickly. "What was your name?" Ethan told her. "Alright. Just hold on a second while I make the call."

"Doctor Watson? There's someone here to see you…yes, I know you didn't want any visitors, but he claimed to know something about the accident yesterday…no, not a reporter…his name is Ethan; do you know him? Yes sir, I'll tell him. Just a moment." She put the phone down. "He wants to meet with you!" the receptionist said, not quite disguising her surprise.

"I thought he might," said Ethan. "Can you tell me where his office is?"

"Yes," the woman replied. She gestured off to her right. "It's down that hall, the third door on your left. The room number is 17."

Ethan turned to go without bothering to thank her. He walked down the hall, found the door, and knocked. "Come in," said a voice from the inside.

Ethan opened the door and stepped inside. "You can take a seat if you'd like," said the professor, indicated several chairs along the wall with his hand.

"I'll stand for now," responded Ethan. "I hope to be brief."

"I still can't believe what happened yesterday," said the professor. "I don't know what to think. How can the technology that I've been researching do so much harm to a person? This is supposed to be an entertainment device! Now I can't even sleep, thinking about what I've done!"

"Lawsuits can be rough," agreed Ethan.

"No!" shouted the professor. He composed himself. "Well, yes. But I'm worried about Kyle! Who knows what happened to him? Who knows if he'll recover, or if he'll be the same afterwards?"

"So you need to research these effects," suggested Ethan.

"Well, that would be ideal, yes," said the professor. "But I don't know how I would do that without exposing more people to danger."

"Hold a tournament," Ethan said. "Invite the duelists who were here yesterday. They know what to expect from the system, and their presence would indicate a consent to the risks."

"A tournament!" cried Dr. Watson. "We can't have a tournament! It's too dangerous!"

Ethan placed his hands on the professor's desk and leaned forward. "Professor," he said forcefully. "YOU need a controlled environment to test the duel arenas. YOU need to show that any effects are temporary and harmless. YOU need to generate interest in this remarkable innovation. A tournament is the only way to do this. It is in YOUR best interests."

Worry showed in the Dr. Watson's face. In his normal state of mind, he would have questioned Ethan's authority on any of this, and would have probably had him removed from the office for trying to give orders. But the professor wasn't thinking of such things. He was genuinely worried about the previously unforeseen effects of his duel disks and arena, and was willing to grasp at any opportunity to fix any damage he had caused. "But why should anyone enter?" he asked with some uncertainty. "What's in it for them?"

"Offer money. Offer rare cards. Offer –" Ethan stopped for a second. "Offer one of those gold spheres. That seems like a suitable reward for the Master of the Shadow Games!"

Dr. Watson looked sharply at Ethan. "What did you call them?"

"You don't like it? I think it describes the setting pretty well," replied Ethan lightly, apparently unconcerned by the professor's look.

"I just don't think…well…" The professor paused. "I just don't think we should call them that."

"Suit yourself," replied Ethan. "Oh, and there's one more thing. Each round, you need to increase the energy level of the duels, ultimately reaching the maximum level during the final round."

"No. I can't do that. I'm not putting anyone through that risk again. All duels will be played at the lowest level."

Ethan looked directly at Dr. Watson. "You will never learn about the effects of your system unless you allow duelists to experience them. The duelists will never fully learn how to take advantage of the new rules unless you allow them to experience the true power levels. This requirement is not only desirable, but necessary. It is imperative that you set the energy higher with each duel."

The professor sighed. He didn't like the situation at all. "Alright. We'll increase the energy levels. But at the first sign of something going wrong, I'm shutting the arena down. There will be no discussion about this. I'm not letting anyone else get hurt."

Ethan smiled. He had gotten his tournament. He turned and left the office, leaving the professor with his head in his hands.


	3. The Tournament, Part I

Ethan arrived at the laboratory and looked around approvingly. There were plenty of duelists here, and some of them were quite well known. All of them, he assumed, had fine-tuned their decks for the new rules. Good, Ethan thought. He needed a challenge, and it looked like he'd find it here. As his eyes moved over the room, he noticed Sara standing off to the side.

Ethan frowned. How was SHE invited? She hardly knew any strategy at all. Sara probably didn't even change her deck at all for this tournament. Ethan brightened. At least he'd get his rematch. Then he realized that Sara probably wouldn't make it past the first round. His mood darkened once more.

But, it looked like everyone was here, because the professor came into the room and began to speak. Ethan didn't pay too much attention; it was just the standard welcome and introduction to the tournament. Duels would be 4000 life points. Ah, here was the part he was waiting for: the brackets.

The tournament brackets were displayed on a large screen near the ceiling. Looked like four rounds. Ethan examined the bottom row, looking for his opponent. He noticed Sara was the second from the left. Ethan continued to look…there he was, third from the right. His opponent was someone he had never seen before. No matter, thought Ethan. Defeating this duelist should be no problem at all. He was a little surprised to see the professor's picture on the other side of his own. If Dr. Watson was any good, he would be Ethan's opponent during the second round.

Apparently, there were two duel arenas and two sets of duel disks. That meant that Ethan had to wait for the first four duels to be completed before he could start. Worse, he wouldn't know which duel to watch. The way the brackets were set up, he would only duel one of these eight. It could be any of them. Well, he amended, ALMOST any of them. He was certain that one of those duelists lacked the skills to really be competitive, even in this first round.

Since his time would be wasted watching a duel, Ethan decided to just look over his deck. He moved to a table near the corner of the room and spread his cards out on it. Ethan pushed three cards to the top of the table, four cards to the right side, and two cards to the bottom. These were some of his combos. He looked at the cards in the center, selected one, and slid it down to join the two cards already at the bottom of the table. Ethan looked over at his cards once more, and something caught his eye. He quickly grabbed four more cards from the center and looked at them approvingly. Ethan placed these off to the left side. As he did so, he noticed a particular spell card in the midst of the others. Thinking furiously, Ethan began to slide groups of two cards out from the center. This continued for several minutes, as Ethan selected various pairs of cards, his eyes lighting up each time another was chosen.

Several minutes later, Ethan pushed his chair back and looked at the table. There it was: his perfect deck. He smiled as he surveyed the plethora of card combinations available to him. Any one of them could win a duel. Ethan leaned forward and began collecting his cards. Just as he finished putting his deck back together, a loud buzzer sounded. The first four duels were finished, and it was time for the rest of them. Ethan put his cards in a small container on his belt and walked to the dueling area.

His opponent was already waiting at the duel arena. Ethan stepped onto his platform, and as it lifted, he surveyed the duelist across from him. His opponent was a dark-haired kid, whose small stature seemed to increase the nervousness of his expression. "I'm Matthew," the kid timidly offered. "Are you Ethan?" he asked, a little shakily.

"That's right," replied Ethan. He was a bit surprised to see his opponent cringe.

"Oh no," Matthew said nervously. "I've heard you're really good."

That reply surprised Ethan for the second time, but he told himself that it shouldn't have. He was good. He was the best. "You heard correctly," Ethan told Matthew. He laughed a bit mockingly. "Just shuffle your deck so that we can get this over with."

They shuffled their decks and each drew five cards. "I'm feeling generous," said Ethan as the purple haze surrounded them. "You can go first."

Matthew drew a card and looked at it in disappointment. "My hand's not that great," he said. "I'll play Card Destruction so I can draw a new one." He discarded his hand and drew five more cards.

"Alright," replied Ethan. He sent his five cards to the graveyard and drew five more. Immediately, three ghostly figures rose above the field.

Matthew looked at the apparitions a bit fearfully. "What are those?" he asked.

"Those are Spirit Monsters," answered Ethan. "Unlike normal monsters, these cannot be killed. At the end of each turn, they return to my hand, even if they are in the graveyard."

Matthew grimaced. Ethan only lost two cards because of Card Destruction, and now had five more. This was a bad way to start out. "I'll play one monster in defense mode, and two cards face down. I guess it's your turn," he said, obviously unhappy.

Ethan smiled as he drew his card. His opponent wasn't a threat at all. As he put the card in his hand, the three spirits returned, giving him nine cards. Ethan selected the rightmost card in his hand and placed it vertically on the display in front of him. As he did so, a purple imp appeared on the field. It had black armor and was holding a small gun. The gun had a circular dial on the top.

"Meet Snipe Hunter!" Ethan called to Matthew. "This monster has a unique ability. By discarding a card from my hand, I can destroy any card on your side of the field!"

"What?" exclaimed Matthew. "That's not fair!"

"Relax," said Ethan. "There's a one in three chance that his gun will malfunction. You might get lucky!" He smiled to himself. He had enough cards to clear the field, even if it failed once or twice. "I'll discard my Yamata Dragon to destroy your monster!"

A serpent with multiple heads appeared and was sucked into the imp's gun. The dial above the weapon spun rapidly, then stopped abruptly. The dragon was ejected forcefully from the back of the gun, and rose high above the field.

As the imp started screaming at the weapon and hitting it violently, Ethan shrugged inwardly. No matter. He had plenty of other spirit monsters in his hand. "Snipe Hunter!" he called. "Try again, using Yata-Garasu!"

The imp instantly became alert. The purple bird was drawn into the blaster, and the dial began to spin once more. It stopped and shone bright green. The imp cackled evilly, and fired at Matthew's face down monster. A purple flash sped towards the horizontal card and hit it. The card image shattered into hundreds of pieces, and the raven flew gracefully to the top of the field.

Ethan smiled. This was more like it. "Snipe Hunter!" he said again. "Use Susa Soldier to destroy the right face down card!"

Once again a spirit entered the gun, once again the dial spun, and once again the green light appeared. The shot sent a mighty warrior spirit towards face down card. Just before the two intersected, the Susa Soldier swung his great sword, cutting the card in half. As he joined the other spirits, the card disintegrated.

"One more time," said Ethan. "I'll discard my Asura Priest to destroy your last card!" The gun fired once more, and Matthew's last card was torn apart by the many arms of the Asura Priest. "Would you look at that," said Ethan. "Your side of the field is empty." He paused for a second, to let Matthew take this in. "Snipe Hunter! Attack him directly!"

As the imp's blaster emitted a bright green wave of energy, Matthew stepped back instinctively, crossing his arms in front of his face. Even so, the force of the attack was enough to knock him down. His life points dropped to 2500.

"I think you've had enough for one turn," Ethan said as Matthew slowly rose. "I'll end my turn by playing Card of Safe Return. Any time any monster is special summoned from the graveyard, this allows me to draw three cards. I'm done."

Ethan's four spirit monsters returned to his hand as Matthew moved to draw his next card. As he placed his hand on the deck, Matthew paused. He knew that he wouldn't last much longer, and he needed a good draw to give him any hope of staying in the tournament. Taking a deep breath, he picked up the card and looked at it. Instead of putting it in his hand, he played it straight to the field. "I play Fissure!" Matthew said. "This destroys your Snipe Hunter!"

The ground underneath the imp split, causing it to fall into a chasm. The ground closed again, leaving the field empty. Ethan glared at Matthew. "You'll pay for that," he snarled.

Although he was slightly intimidated, Matthew continued his move. "Next, I'll play Cyber Falcon in attack mode," he said quietly. Matthew hesitated, then said, "Cyber Falcon! Attack Ethan's life points directly!"

The mechanical bird swooped towards Ethan and slashed at him with its metal talons. Ethan didn't even flinch. He continued to stare at Matthew. "Mark my words," he said slowly, "You won't last long enough to see your next turn. As soon as you end your turn, I'll end the duel."

Matthew, now quite a bit unnerved, played the last card in his hand. "I activate Swords of Revealing Light," he mumbled, not looking at Ethan. "That's it."

Ethan violently grabbed the top card of his deck. "I play Wild Nature's Release to special summon a Beast or Beast-Warrior from my deck," he said. "I choose Manticore of Darkness!" A fearsome looking beast appeared on the field. "Wild Nature's Release has two side effects," continued Ethan. "First, all of the defense points that my monster would have are instead added to its attack points." As if to confirm this, the manticore grew in size. Its fangs became longer, its claws became sharper, and its eyes seemed to have a fire in them. "Second, this increase of energy consumes my monster at the end of the turn, sending it to the graveyard."

Matthew looked fearfully at Ethan's monster. He calmed down slightly as he remembered his active spell card. But Ethan's next words dispelled that calm.

"Next, I activate the magic card Exchange! Control of our magic cards switches!"

The glowing swords shot towards Matthew, surrounding him and his monster. Ethan's Card of Safe Return also appeared on Matthew's side of the field.

Matthew looked at the swords surrounding him, and fear began to take hold of him. Suddenly, he heard Ethan saying, "Manticore of Darkness! Attack his Cyber Falcon!" Matthew's eyes focused on the field, and terror shot through him. A massive, raging beast charged at him, crashing through the falcon without even breaking stride. A swipe of the manticore's massive paw knocked Matthew several feet back. He hit the guardrail behind him and collapsed forward on his knees. His life meter dropped to 600.

Matthew raised his head, and said weakly, "I…I still have a chance. You're done attacking, which means it's my turn."

Ethan glared at him, and Matthew shrank back. "I told you that you wouldn't make it to your next turn. I meant it." He selected a card from his hand and played it, still staring at Matthew. "I activate Wild Summon Blaster!"

Matthew looked at Ethan fearfully. "What does that do?" he asked, dreading to hear Ethan's response.

Ethan looked Matthew in the eyes, and Matthew looked away. "Every time a Beast-Warrior is special summoned, my card deals 500 damage to you."

"But…but…" stammered Matthew. "You're done with your turn, aren't you?"

"It is my End phase," admitted Ethan. "That means my manticore is destroyed. However, it has a unique ability. Whenever Manticore of Darkness is sent to a graveyard, I can discard a Beast-Warrior from my hand or the field to special summon him."

"That still only 500 points of damage!" exclaimed Matthew. "I'm still in this!"

"The monster that I'm choosing to discard," said Ethan scornfully, "is the Manticore of Darkness in my hand."

Matthew's eyes widened. Ethan's monster shattered, but just as quickly, the pieces were pulled back together, causing it to reappear. Ethan's Wild Summon Blaster fired a shot at Matthew.

Matthew was thrown against the guard rail again. He staggered forward, as his life points dropped to 100.

"Draw your three cards," Ethan said contemptuously.

As Matthew reached weakly for his deck, Ethan declared, "Now that my other Manticore of Darkness is in the graveyard, I'll tribute the one on the field to special summon it."

Matthew looked at Ethan in disbelief. Stark fear shot through him.

The blaster fired again, launching Matthew into the back rail. The three cards he had drawn dropped to the floor.

The manticore was replaced by another one.

The blaster fired.

The manticore reappeared.

The blaster continued to fire, pinning Matthew to the rail. Every time it fired, three more cards slid off Matthew's deck, landing on top of the cards on the ground.

Finally, there were no cards left in Matthew's deck. The fire ceased, and he fell forward, landing on his cards.

Ethan calmly collected his cards from the display and dismounted the platform. He walked over to the other side of the arena. Matthew lay motionless, and a bit of smoke was rising from him. Ethan stepped over him, and took his Card of Safe Return. He dropped the Swords of Revealing light on the body beneath him. "No one will stand in my way," he told his fallen opponent.

The other duelists looked on, horrified.

--

Ethan remained in the dueling room to wait for the other duels to finish. He leaned against the wall, looking through his deck. An angry shout broke his concentration.

"What is WRONG with you!?"

Ethan looked up to see an agitated Dr. Watson coming towards him. "I won. Isn't that what you're supposed to do in a tournament?" Ethan asked him.

"Not like that!" the professor cried. "Just look at Matthew! Do you think he'll ever be the same again?"

Ethan looked towards the duel arena. Several concerned duelists were surrounding Matthew, helping him to his feet. "Seems fine to me," he said.

"Physically, maybe," responded the professor. "Mentally…well…who knows. I can't imagine that he'll ever duel again." He turned back towards Ethan. "This is supposed to be a test of the system! You're turning it into something personal!"

"I want to win," replied Ethan indifferently. "Why is that so wrong?"

"You won't win. You won't get past the second round," the professor said determinedly.

"Oh? Why is that?" questioned Ethan.

Dr. Watson looked directly at Ethan. "Because I'm your next opponent."

--

Once again, Ethan stepped onto the platform, this time facing the professor. "I've spent my whole life collecting rare cards," Dr. Watson told him. "You won't win."

"We'll see," replied Ethan as he drew his cards. "I'll start by playing Spirit Ryu in defense mode. I'll also play two cards face down. That's it."

Dr. Watson drew and examined his hand. "I'll play one card face down," he said, doing so. "Next, I summon Masaki the Legendary Swordsman!"

A samurai warrior appeared on the field, bearing a steel katana. "Go, Masaki!" the professor shouted. "Destroy his Spirit Ryu!"

With a grunt of assent, the samurai charged at Ethan's monster and swung his sword. The Spirit Ryu was destroyed.

"No matter," muttered Ethan, but he was a bit worried. He didn't have a good hand at all, and was off to a slow start. He drew, and looked approvingly at the card. This should do the trick, Ethan thought. Instead of putting it in his hand, he played it directly to the field. "I'll summon my Magical Ghost!"

Streams of some green substance emerged from the haze around them and joined, creating a shapeless creature on Ethan's side of the field. "Magical Ghost, attack Masaki the Legendary Swordsman!" Ethan shouted.

As the ghost sped towards Masaki, a shiny material appeared on the warrior's boots. This quickly moved up his legs and spread to the rest of his body, covering him in a metallic coating. The ghost engulfed Masaki, and for a brief second, nothing seemed to happen. Then, in a burst of energy, the ghost disintegrated, leaving Masaki alone on the field. Ethan's life points dropped to 3900. He cringed as he felt a slight pain in his chest.

Dr. Watson smiled. "Meet Masaki the Legionnaire! When you attacked, I activated my Metalmorph trap, giving my swordsman a new suit of armor, and making him stronger than your ghost."

Frustrated, Ethan surveyed the field. What was wrong with him? Sure, he had gotten a poor starting hand, but that should be no excuse. Hadn't he told Sara that a good deck had no shortcomings? Now was his chance to prove it. Ethan looked over the three cards in his hand. There was only monster, and it wasn't strong enough to destroy Masaki. But this other card… "I play one card face down and end my turn," Ethan declared.

The professor drew his next card and added it to his hand. He selected another card and placed it horizontally on the display in front of him. "I'll summon my Royal Magical Library in defense mode. This lets me special summon Spirit of the Books from my deck." Dr. Watson said. "Also, whenever Spirit of the Books is special summoned, I can select one spell card from my deck and place it in my hand," he continued. "I choose Flute of Summoning Dragon!"

Ethan looked at the field, a bit worried. Dr. Watson had three monsters, and he had none at all. He looked at his three traps, and gained some confidence back.

"Masaki the Legionnaire! Attack Ethan directly!" the professor commanded. The warrior rushed towards Ethan.

"Activate trap! Dark Spirit of the Silent!" Ethan shouted. A skull emerged from the haze behind him and sped towards the charging swordsman. It entered Masaki, knocking him off his feet. The warrior rose and slowly rotated to face Dr. Watson. He charged again, this time towards the Spirit of the Books. With a mighty swing, Masaki decapitated the monster. The professor's life points dropped to 3300. With cry, Dr. Watson dropped to one knee. The spirit emerged and joined the shadows once more, and Masaki turned to face Ethan again.

"I'll end my turn," the professor said as he rose, visibly disturbed by the fate of his monster.

"Good," said Ethan. He drew his next card and smiled. This was exactly what he needed. Just like last time, he placed it on the display instead of putting it in his hand. "I'll summon my Earthbound Spirit in defense mode," Ethan stated. The ground split open, and a brown humanoid crawled partially out. "And now, since I have a Fiend-type monster, I can activate my Fiend's Hand Mirror trap card!" A mirror appeared in the spirit's hand.

Dr. Watson immediately saw Masaki's reflection in the mirror. "What does that card do?" he asked, a bit apprehensively.

"As long as I have a Fiend on my side of the field, this card lets me create a copy of one of your monsters," Ethan said with a smile. "I choose to copy Masaki the Legionnaire!"

The mirror shattered, leaving just the image of Masaki. "And now, I'll activate Soul of Fire!" shouted Ethan. Bright red light began to shine from the openings in Masaki's armor. "This turns my Masaki the Legionnaire into the Inferno Legionnaire!"

The professor looked at this new monster in awe. It was an incredible sight. His attention turned back to his opponent as Ethan began to speak again.

"The Inferno Legionnaire can attack until he deals damage to your life points," said Ethan, still smiling. "I'll start by attacking your Royal Magical Library!"

Flames suddenly enveloped the Inferno Legionnaire's sword. It swung, sending an arc of fire at the professor's monster. The intense heat reduced the library to ashes. Dr. Watson's hand went to his forehead, as though he was under some sort of stress.

"Since your monster was in defense mode, no damage was dealt to your life points," Ethan said. "That means I can attack again!"

As Dr. Watson looked up in shock, another blast of fire was sent towards Masaki the Legionnaire, incinerating him. The professor's life meter now read 2500. He feel backwards with a cry.

"Since damage was dealt to you, Inferno Legionnaire can no longer attack," Ethan said, not without some disappointment. "I'll end my turn."

"Then it's my turn," gasped Dr. Watson, getting up. "I can't let you continue in this tournament. I'll do all that I can to make sure that this is your last duel." He stumbled forward, steadying himself on the display with his left hand. With his other hand, he drew.

The professor managed to stand up straight. He looked directly at Ethan. "It's time to end this. I'll start by playing Lord of Dragons!" A cloaked figure appeared on the field and glared at Ethan's monster. "Next, I'll play the Flute of Summoning Dragon, allowing me to summon two dragons from my hand!" Dr. Watson selected two cards in his hand. He paused for a moment. "These are two of the rarest dragons in all of Duel Monsters. Only twenty copies of one were made. The other: Four." Ethan looked up sharply as the realization hit him. The professor noticed. "That's right," Dr. Watson said. He forcefully put the two cards on the display. "I summon Red Eyes Black Dragon and Blue Eyes White Dragon!"

The two dragons appeared on the field and, to Ethan's surprise, immediately attacked each other. "What?" he cried. "Why are they fighting?"

"These two dragons are mortal enemies," replied the professor. "There has always been conflict between them." Indeed, the two dragons were locked in combat. The white one suddenly reared its head and opened its massive mouth. A white glow began to build up from inside. In response, the black dragon did the same thing, but its jaws contained a red glow.

"They're going to destroy each other!" shouted Ethan.

"Not quite," replied the professor, a small smile on his face. "Just watch."

The two blasts were released at the same time, engulfing the two dragons in a massive explosion. Ethan turned his face, shielding his eyes with his arm. As the light faded, Ethan peered into the smoke surrounding the two dragons.

The smoke cleared, revealing a massive dragon with two heads. Ethan gaped at the colossal creature. He tried to say something, but no words came out.

"You are right to fear my dragon," said the professor. "Its power is nearly unequaled. Only the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon and the Five God Dragon are stronger. This monster will win the duel for me," he finished confidently.

Ethan looked at his last face down card. No, he decided, not yet. I may still need this. He steadied himself, ready for the inevitable attack.

"Prismatic Dragon! Attack his Inferno Legionnaire!" Dr. Watson commanded. The dragon raised its two heads, and energy began to build up in each. Nervous, Ethan nonetheless stood his ground. After what seemed an eternity, the two energy globes were released and joined each other, spiraling towards Ethan's monster. The blast hit it and continued through, striking Ethan. He was thrown against the back rail, but remained standing. Pain was shooting through him, and it was becoming unbearable. His life points dropped to 1700.

"Now, Lord of Dragons! Attack Ethan directly!" the professor called. Just as Ethan's agony was lessening, he was hit by a mighty blow from Dr. Watson's second monster. He managed to keep from screaming, but dropped to his knees, trembling from the pain. His life points were now at 500.

Ethan looked up at the professor, looking directly into his eyes. "It will take more than that to stop me," he said slowly. "Much more." He started to rise and stumbled forward. On his second attempt, Ethan made it to his feet. His shaking hand reached for his deck. "Your turn is over," he told the professor coldly. "I draw."

Ethan had trouble focusing on his new card, but managed to do so. It was just the card he needed, and would hopefully buy him enough time to counter-attack. "I play Spirit Reaper in defense mode," he managed to say. "That's all."

Dr. Watson looked on, worried for Ethan, but much more surprised that he was still capable of dueling. Never mind that, he told himself. Ethan is a threat to the other duelists here. You need to defeat him through any means necessary. The professor drew, then said, "I'm sorry to do this to you, Ethan. But as long as you're in this tournament, the other duelists aren't safe. I have to make sure that you won't be able to hurt them. You're going to lose this turn."

Ethan returned the professor's look with an unwavering stare of his own. "Give me your best shot," he challenged. "You won't be able to defeat me."

Dr. Watson sighed. "You obviously don't know about the special ability of my Prismatic Dragon," he told Ethan. "If it attacks a monster in defense mode, you still take damage equal to the difference of its attack points and your monster's defense points."

"What –" Ethan began, but was cut off by the professor.

"Prismatic Dragon! Attack his Spirit Reaper!"

Once again, the dragon's attack was sent towards Ethan. Just before it hit his monster, he yelled, "Activate trap! Time Seal!"

The blast went straight through Ethan's monster and hit him hard, knocking him down. He began writhing in pain, as his life points changed to -3700.

"What happened?" he heard the professor call. "Why haven't you lost?" Ethan was in too much pain to answer. "Ethan?" he heard again.

Ethan screamed and punched the floor, trying to take his mind off the pain. "I activated Time Seal, you idiot!" he screamed at Dr. Watson. "As long as it's on the field, neither of us can lose for having less than zero life points!"

Dr. Watson looked worriedly over at Ethan's side of the field. He knew what he had to do, but he hated to do it. "I'm afraid I'll have to force you to forfeit, then," he said. "My Prismatic Dragon has another ability. If there is still a monster on the field after he attacks, I can discard the top card of my deck to let him attack again. Since your Spirit Reaper can't be destroyed, I'll continue to do this until you forfeit." The professor sighed, and placed the top card of his deck in the graveyard. "Prismatic Dragon," he said slowly. "Attack again!"

Ethan was just pulling himself up when the blast hit him. His life points became -7900, and he collapsed again. "Do you forfeit?" called the professor.

"No!" yelled Ethan. It felt like someone was jabbing red-hot needles into his body.

"You leave me no choice," replied the professor hesitantly, again sending the top card of his deck to the graveyard. "Prismatic Dragon, attack!"

The blast pinned Ethan to the floor. "Forfeit and it will all be over!" he heard Dr. Watson say.

Ethan swore loudly. Black spots were filling his vision, and he could barely move. "I'm not forfeiting!" he screamed. "I'm not going to let myself get defeated like this!" His leg began twitching, and he grabbed the edge of the platform tightly.

Another massive blast struck Ethan. Every muscle in his body contracted violently. His hands, still gripping the edge, began to bleed from the pressure. "Ethan…" he heard again. Ethan started hitting his head on the metal platform, trying unsuccessfully to ignore the pain he was in.

As the next attack hit him, Ethan's body began to convulse. He had gone from twitching to uncontrollable shaking. He couldn't talk, he couldn't move, and he couldn't think. There was nothing but agony.

--

Dr. Watson picked up the next card to discard it, but stopped. He threw it back on top of the deck in frustration. Ethan wasn't quitting. "Alright," he said, almost angrily. "I'm done. Your move, if you can make it back up. If not…well, I win by default. You have five minutes."

Ethan barely heard the professor, but he was aware that the pain was lessening. He lay motionless for a while, then attempted to reach the guardrail. It felt like his arm was made of lead. Ethan slowly slid his right leg forward. He managed to grab the lower rail and attempted to pull himself up. Finally, with the last of his energy, he swung his other arm to reach the top rail. The blood on his hand caused it to slip off. Although discouraged, Ethan managed to rotate his body so that he was sitting against the lower rail. He sat there for a moment, trying to catch his breath.

"One more minute…" came the professor's voice.

Gritting his teeth, Ethan summoned his last remaining strength. He pushed himself away from the rail and extended his legs explosively. But as his body moved forward, his legs failed him again, and he dropped to his knees, with his arms draped over the display.

"Thirty seconds…"

Ethan raised his head and looked straight at the professor. The professor looked back at him in surprise. But he continued to count: "Twenty seconds…"

Ethan pushed himself back up with his arms. One knee buckled, and he had to steady himself with his hand. He straightened both legs again.

The professor looked at him, still surprised, but still counting. "Ten seconds…"

Ethan grabbed his cards with his left hand and angrily swiped at his deck with his right, adding the top card to his hand. He stared at the professor, as if to bore holes in him with his eyes. "Let's duel," he said.

--

Ethan tried to see the cards in his hands. The black spots were still there, but they were clearing up. He was finally able to make out the two cards. "Professor," he said. "You should have kept attacking me. Now, you'll lose." Ethan played both of the cards in his hand, then looked at Dr. Watson. "Your move."

The professor shook his head as he looked at his next card. "Whatever you're planning, it won't work. I play Heavy Storm to destroy all three of your face down cards!"

Ethan flipped one of his cards over. "I'll chain Emergency Provisions, targeting my face down card."

Dr. Watson looked at him questioningly. "That extra 1000 life points is negligible, at best. You're so far below zero that it won't matter at all."

Ethan nodded. "That's true. And it's that fact that allows me to chain another trap. I activate Self-Destruct Button! If the difference between our life points is 7000 or more, this will cause them to both become zero! And there's a difference of more than 20000."

The professor felt sick as he realized what was happening. "Next," continued Ethan, "I gain the 1000 life points from my Emergency Provisions card! After that, your Heavy Storm card activates, destroying my Time Seal. Duelists can once again lose for having zero life points." Ethan looked straight into Dr. Watson's eyes. "And, it seems, you have exactly zero life points. By playing Heavy Storm, you sealed your own fate."

The professor couldn't return Ethan's gaze. Instead, he stared at his life point counter, as if hypnotized. It finally hit zero, and with a scream, he collapsed.

Unable to support him any longer, Ethan's legs buckled. He fell to his knees, leaning his head against the side of the display and breathing heavily. It was nearly fifteen minutes before he could stand again. When he was able to do so, Ethan dismounted the platform and stumbled towards one of the nearby tables. He dropped into a chair and let his body fall across the table surface. Ethan remained there, completely spent.


	4. The Tournament, Part II

A sharp blow to his shoulder brought Ethan back to reality. He looked up, annoyed, and found himself facing one of the other duelists. "What do you want?" he snarled.

"Get up. We're dueling," replied the other angrily. "You're my next opponent, and the matches are starting now."

"Look at me!" yelled Ethan. "I'm in no condition to duel!"

"Yeah, and neither are your last two opponents. No one likes you, and everyone wants a shot at you. The way the brackets are set up, though, I was the lucky one. You're dueling me, Mason. I've never lost a duel, and that's not about the change. Get up."

Ethan furiously took a swing at Mason, who easily blocked it. Mason then struck back, knocking Ethan out of his chair and sending his cards flying. He followed this up by tossing a duel disc at the now prostrate Ethan. Ethan managed to raise his arm in time to deflect it. He glared at Mason.

"This is what we're using now," said Mason, turning to leave. "Put it on and meet me in the dueling area within two minutes. Any later and you forfeit."

Ethan was furious. He'd had enough of deadlines. But, realizing that the time limit was no joke, he frantically began to pick up his cards. Finally, Ethan was finished. He ran towards the dueling area, sliding his deck into the disk on the way.

--

Ethan faced his new opponent, feeling his anger steadily increasing. He thought back to the incidents that fueled his rage. Sara beating him. Zach taunting him. Matthew destroying his creatures. The professor tormenting him. And now Mason, who showed him absolutely no respect at all. Well, that would change. When this duel was over Mason would respect him. He would fear him. So would everyone else, Ethan thought with a tight smile.

"Hey!" called Mason. "Are you going to stand there or are you going to duel?"

Ethan raised his head sharply, the fury in him continuing to grow. He needed an outlet, someone to take it out on, and Mason would be perfect for the task.

"Fine," Ethan replied, carefully controlling his voice. "Let's duel."

"We'll reveal our top cards," stated Mason, barely controlling his own contempt for his opponent. "Highest attack goes first."

Ethan drew, revealing Yata-Garasu. He frowned as he put it on the bottom of his deck. Mason held out the card he drew, Element Soldier. "I guess I'll be starting off," he said, drawing six cards. He selected three cards and inserted each into his duel disk. "I'll begin by playing three cards face down," Mason said. "That's all."

"That's all? I thought you were supposed to be good," Ethan said scornfully as he drew his cards. After examining his hand, he selected a card and placed it on his duel disk. "I'll play my Asura Priest," Ethan said. Suddenly, a spirit seemed to emerge from his body and moved to the field. As the creature appeared, Ethan felt a strange tenseness in his chest. He was surprised, but was determined not to show it. "You shouldn't have left yourself open," he told Mason. "Asura Priest! Attack him directly!"

"Of course I didn't leave myself open," returned Mason. "Activate face down cards! Scapegoat and Ring of Defense!"

Four small round monsters appeared on the field, and a large device appeared in front of them. Four shields extended from the device, each covering one of the monsters.

"As long as my Ring of Defense is on the field, you can't destroy any of my Scapegoats for any reason. And, since you can't attack me directly while there's a monster on the field, there's nothing you can do!"

He's right, thought Ethan. He has an unstoppable defense, and right now I don't see a way around it. Out loud, he said, "I might not be able to attack you, but I'm not going to leave myself defenseless either. I'll play Spiritual Energy Settle Machine! This prevents my spirit monsters from entering or leaving the field. That's all for now."

"I thought so," returned Mason. "I'll draw." He did so and added the card to his hand. "First, I'll activate my face down card, Elemental Burst!"

Immediately a sort of flame surrounded each of Mason's Scapegoats. The yellow one turned brown, the pink one became white, and the red and blue ones darkened. "Elemental Burst infuses my monsters with the power of the elements," he explained. "The red one is a Fire monster, the blue one is a Water monster, the brown one is an Earth monster, and the white one is an Air monster."

Ethan shrugged. "So what? A furball is still a furball, no matter what element it is."

"You'll see why it matters soon enough," replied Mason with a scowl. He didn't like Ethan's attitude at all. "Next, I'll play Magic Reflector! Now none of my spells or traps can be destroyed for any reason!"

"Done yet?" asked Ethan indifferently.

Mason almost shouted at Ethan, but managed to control himself. Even so, he was beginning to become incensed. He was an excellent duelist, but Ethan was treating all of his moves as though he was an amateur. "I'll summon my Element Valkyrie," he said quietly, trying unsuccessfully to mask his anger. A woman with a double-bladed weapon appeared on the field. Mason winced, but recovered almost immediately. "Since I have a Fire type monster, it gains 500 Attack points. Go, Valkyrie! Destroy his Asura Priest!"

The female warrior rushed at Ethan's monster. She swung her weapon at the Aura Priest, but it passed completely through. Ethan grimaced as he felt a sharp pain in his head. His life points dropped to 3700.

"What happened?" asked Mason. "Why wasn't your monster destroyed?"

Ethan was about to reply, but stopped. Why WASN'T it destroyed? He looked at the field, trying to figure out what was going on. Of course! His Spiritual Energy Settle Machine! Now how had he forgotten that?

"Ethan?" Mason asked again.

"Weren't you paying attention? My magic card prevents spirits from entering or leaving the field. That means they can't go to the graveyard." Ethan replied quickly.

Mason looked at Ethan questioningly for a moment, but shrugged it off. "Fine," he said. "I'll end my turn."

"Good," replied Ethan confidently, trying to hide the worry he was feeling. Mason definitely had an edge on him. He had an impenetrable defense, and the monster he played had gained effects from the Scapegoats. Ethan surmised that Mason's entire deck was filled with monsters like that. Also, the spell card Ethan had played earlier kept him from summoning many of the monsters in his deck. He would have trouble enough with all of that, and now he couldn't remember the effects of his own cards? What was wrong with him?

Ethan shook his head, trying to clear it. He needed to stay focused to win this duel. He drew his next card and added it to his hand. There wasn't much Ethan could do, and he realized it. His magic card hindered him just as much as it helped. Sure, Mason couldn't destroy his monster, but there was no way for Ethan to reinforce his side of the field either.

"I'll switch my Priest into defense mode and end my turn," Ethan said. "There's nothing I can do right now."

Mason drew a card and smiled. "I'll start by playing Pitch Dark Dragon in defense mode," he said. His smiled left as the dragon rose up from the ground. Ethan noticed he seemed to be under some sort of stress. "Next, I'll activate the card I drew: Doriado's Blessing!" he said, but there was a bit of confusion in his voice. "By discarding Elemental Mistress Doriado from my hand to the graveyard, I can draw one card for each monster I control with a different element. And I count six!"

Shocked, Ethan looked at the field. Yes, that was right: Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Dark, and Light. He felt a little sick as Mason filled his hand. He felt even sicker when he saw the look that appeared on Mason's face.

"This is where it ends for you," Mason told Ethan. "I'll sacrifice my Elemental Valkyrie to play Dragon's Mirror!" As his monster was consumed by the haze surrounding them, Mason looked a bit shaken. A circular vortex appeared, suspended above the field.

"Dragon's Mirror? What does that do?" Ethan asked, not really wanting to know the answer.

"I'm glad you asked," replied Mason. He stopped, seemingly unsure of himself. He looked at the vortex, then back at his hand. Recognition suddenly appeared on his face. "I'm glad you asked," he repeated. "By offering one of my monsters on the field as a tribute, I can activate my Dragon's Mirror. If I control a dragon on the field, I can special summon another from my hand that's one level higher! Also, this process continues until I run out of eligible monsters to summon."

"Just…just how many dragons do you HAVE?" asked Ethan worriedly.

"Oh, you'll see," responded Mason. "Pitch Dark Dragon is a level 3 monster, so I can summon Solar Flare Dragon, which is a level 4!" A flaming serpent rose up, and Ethan noticed that Mason was beginning to breathe heavily. Mason swallowed, then continued, "I'll use the effect again to summon the level 5 Divine Dragon – Excelion!" The silver dragon descended from above them, but Ethan noted that Mason seemed to have trouble concentrating. "Next," he gasped. "Next, I'll summon Sky Dragon, a level 6 monster!" A purple dragon emerged from behind him, remaining above the field.

"Is this too intense for you?" asked Ethan with mock pity. "You can forfeit any time you'd like," he sneered.

"You're crazy," cried Mason, whose knees were now shaking. "I'm not done yet. I'll use Dragon's Mirror to bring out Stone Dragon!" His eyes began to dilate, and it seemed to Ethan that he couldn't focus on anything. "One more," Mason managed. "I'm summoning one more monster. Water Dragon! Show yourself!" A massive dragon composed entirely of water appeared on the field, encircling Mason's monsters. Mason, however, stumbled forward and fell. The Water Dragon began to fade, but Mason managed to get to one knee. It regained its clarity as Mason rose, although he seemed to be lifting a great weight.

"Looks like someone can't handle summoning a monster or two," Ethan taunted. Mason didn't respond. He could barely catch his breath. "But wait!" cried Ethan suddenly. "You just summoned six monsters! That's against the rules!"

"It's…not…" Mason tried to say. "My Sky Dragon…is above the field…not on it…It's not constrained…by traditional summoning…rules."

"So you can have six monsters?" asked Ethan incredulously.

"Well…I won't…for long…" gasped Mason. "Controlling…a dragon…of every element…is rare…almost impossibly rare…But they allow…an even rarer…presence…"

"An even rarer presence?" snorted Ethan, despite the apprehension he was beginning to feel. "Just what is this 'rarer presence'?"

"Yes…" replied Mason. He took a deep breath, and cried, "Merge, my dragons! Show your true form!"

One by one Mason's dragons dived into the Water Dragon. Its fluid body began to scintillate, with bright bursts of color appearing and disappearing throughout. Great wings appeared on the dragon's body, and it rose into the air, circling the field.

"What is that!" yelled Ethan. He had never seen anything so massive.

Mason straightened, as though a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He also seemed to be breathing more easily. "This," he replied with a smile, "is Ryo-Wo, The Dragon Deity! He is the father of all dragons, and the master of the elements. Long ago, he was split into many parts, each becoming a different dragon. For many years, he existed only in concept, as the abstract sum of all dragons. But now, Ryo-Wo has returned!"

Mason stopped to catch his breath. Ethan said nothing, still staring at the dragon in shock. Mason continued, "My dragon god gains different powers based on the elements of the other creatures I control. They aren't important now, but one more ability is. Ryo-Wo gains 1500 attack and defense points for each monster that I control of a different element. I count four elements!"

Four elements? Ethan looked at the field in confusion. Then he saw the Ring of Defense, and remembered that behind each shield was a Scapegoat, each a different element. He cursed silently to himself. They didn't seem so harmless now!

"Now I'll introduce you to some of my dragon's abilities!" Mason called. "Go, Ryu-Wo! Attack his Asura Priest!"

The colossal dragon arched its body, preparing for an attack. A great deal of energy began to build up in its great jaws. Finally, the energy was channeled into a massive beam that eradicated Ethan's monster.

"What?" cried Ethan. "My spirits are prevented from entering or leaving the field! What happened to my Priest?"

"I'm glad you asked," said Mason. "As long as I control a Water monster, anything this attacks is removed from the game, permanently!"

Mason's life point counter suddenly began to increase. "Ah, yes," he added. "If I control an Air monster, I gain life points equal to the attack of any monster Ryo-Wo destroys!"

Ethan looked darkly at the four shields, knowing that the monsters they protected were supplying all of the power to Mason's monster. "Are you done?" he asked Mason.

"For now," replied Mason lightly. "Go ahead. Draw your next card."

Ethan reached for his deck, knowing full well that if he didn't draw something good, he would surely lose next turn.

--

Ethan drew his next card and looked at it. This should do the trick, he thought. He played the card face down, then selected another card from his hand. "I'll play Jowgen the Spiritualist in defense mode," Ethan said. "He allows me to special summon a spirit monster from my deck."

"Hold on," said Mason. "Your Energy Settle Machine prevents spirits from entering or leaving the field!"

"Normally, that's true," Ethan admitted. "But Jowgen's connection to the spirit world is so strong that my machine can't stop the summon. So I'll bring forth Fushi No Tori!"

A purple aura began to surround Jowgen, and a red dragon appeared above the field. The dragon attempted to descend, but came to an abrupt stop as it hit the barrier. The energy surrounding Jowgen increased, and the barrier started to deform as Ethan's dragon began to force its way through. Suddenly, the Energy Settle Machine overloaded and burst into flames. The barrier vanished, and Fushi No Tori landed lightly on the ground, covering itself with its wings. Jowgen likewise took a defensive stance, dropping to one knee and raising his staff protectively in front of himself.

Ethan now began to understand Mason's reactions to summoning his dragons, as he was also beginning to feel some strain. However, unlike Mason, Ethan was determined not to show it. "That's all for my turn," he told Mason. "Your move."

Mason drew a card, but kept it in his hand. He looked at his opponent and said, "In most situations, you would have an excellent defense, Ethan." Mason paused to look admiringly at his monster. "But I control the father of dragons himself, Ryo-Wo. There is no defense against him."

"Well, if you're so confident, then bring it on!" retorted Ethan. "Declare your attack!"

"Gladly," smiled Mason. "Ryo-Wo! Attack his Spiritualist!"

"Big mistake," Ethan told him. "Activate trap! Mirror Force!"

As the energy blast sped towards Ethan's monster, a reflective dome appeared, blocking and returning the attack. The massive energy wave swept over Mason's side of the field, engulfing Ryo-Wo. But once it passed, Ethan couldn't believe his eyes. The dragon was still there!

"Surprised?" asked Mason. "You shouldn't be. I warned you that your defense wasn't good enough. As long as I control an Earth monster, Ryo-Wo can't be destroyed!"

Shocked, Ethan looked at the Ring of Defense still on the field. It must have protected the Scapegoats from his trap!

"Yes," Mason affirmed. "My monsters are still protected. And now it's time to reveal the last ability of my dragon! If I control a Fire monster, I can continue to attack as long as you control a monster!"

Two great blasts were launched at Ethan's monsters, obliterating them. Just as the strain he was feeling begin to ease, a sharp pain shot through his head. Ethan shook his head to clear it and moved to draw his next card.

Ethan looked at his new card with a bit of shock. It was as though he had never seen it before. He added it to his hand, and realized that he didn't know anything about the cards there either. What was happening? He had spent hours on this deck! Why couldn't he remember the card effects?

Misreading his confusion, Mason laughed derisively. "Couldn't draw what you needed, Ethan? Too bad." His voice hardened. "It's time that you've paid for your actions. I'm glad I was the one who got to destroy you."

Ethan looked up quickly, but made no response. He was thinking hard. How could he duel if he didn't know what his cards did? Well, at least one thing was clear. He needed to defend with something other than monsters. It seemed like every time he lost one, he also lost some knowledge of his deck, and that was unacceptable.

Ethan looked at his hand. He had five cards: one depicting a ring on a hand, one with a picture of an ugly green jar with a face, one that showed three bright swords, one that displayed a wizard holding his staff above his head, and one with a monster behind a circle that displayed a much smaller image of that monster. They were all spell cards. Noticing that the last card had a different icon than the others, Ethan played it face down on the field. "I'll set one card. That's all," he told Mason.

Mason looked at Ethan, a bit surprised. Was he trying to lose on purpose? Ethan had left himself nearly defenseless. But, Mason decided, that was all the better. The sooner he could get this menace out of the tournament, the better. He looked at Ethan again, this time noticing the look in Ethan's eyes. It wasn't fear, it wasn't resignation, and it definitely wasn't confidence. Uncertainty? Yes, that was it. Did Ethan truly not know what he had played?

"You shouldn't have left yourself unprotected," Mason called. "Now, you'll lose. Go, Ryo-Wo! Attack Ethan directly and end this duel!"

"I activate my face down card!" shouted Ethan. He was desperately hoping that this would work.

Mason's dragon reared back, then lunged forward, launching a massive beam of energy at Ethan. Ethan quickly raised his free arm in a vain attempt to protect himself. The blast continued on, unhindered, striking Ethan hard and knocking him off his feet. His life points dropped to 700.

"Why haven't you lost!" cried Mason angrily.

"You think I know?" Ethan retorted just as angrily, trying to ignore the migraine Mason's attack had given him. "I don't remember anything about my deck after you attacked me!"

Mason was too frustrated to reply. He looked at his hand, selected a card, and placed it horizontally on his duel disk. "I'll summon Element Doom in defense mode. Go."

Ethan managed to get up, and drew his next card. That was too close, he thought. I'm going to need to play some of these cards, even if I don't know what they do. He looked at his next card. It had a picture of some creature with eight heads. Great! Ethan thought. A monster! Then he saw the stars along the bottom of the card. Seven. He couldn't summon this card without two tributes.

But time was running out, and he had to do something. Ethan selected the card with the ring. "I'll activate this magic card!" he said, inserting it into his duel disk. A dark grey ring appeared on the field and was instantly pulled towards Mason's Ring of Defense. With a loud thud, Ethan's ring attached to the center of the barrier.

"What was that?" Mason asked, a bit apprehensively.

"I told you I don't know!" screamed Ethan, who was now furious.

"Well, you'd better hope it was good," said Mason. "Because now that I have a Dark monster, my dragon gains a new ability: You can only activate one spell or trap card per turn!"

"What?!" yelled Ethan. "So how am I supposed to do anything?"

"You aren't," replied Mason shortly. "That's the point. Also, now that I have a monster of another element, Ryo-Wo gains an extra 1500 attack points, bring it up to 7500!"

Ethan looked at the gigantic dragon in despair. "I'll end my turn," he said quietly.

"Good," said Mason. "It's time to end this." He looked at his dragon. "Ryo-Wo! Finish him!"

Once again, Ryo-Wo let loose a mighty burst of energy. Ethan stood resolutely, ready for the blast. But, to his surprise, the globe of energy slowed, as though it was being pulled by some other force. Instead of stopping, the energy reversed direction, going directly at Mason's Ring of Defense. When it hit, there was a bright flash, then nothing. The four Scapegoats were left exposed.

"That…that must have been the Ring of Magnetism!" gasped Ethan.

Mason, who was just as shocked, shouted, "But my Ring of Defense can't be destroyed! My Magic Reflector protects it!"

Ethan smiled. "But as you said yourself, Ryo-Wo doesn't destroy its targets, but removes them from the game! Why should your Ring of Defense be exempt?"

Disgusted at what he had just done, Mason said, "I'll end my turn. Go."

Ethan drew, and was surprised that he knew what the card was. He slid it into his duel disk. "I'll play Spiritualism to summon a spirit from outside of the game! Return, Asura Priest!"

A grey creature with six arms appeared on the field. "Asura Priest has an ability much like your dragon's," Ethan told Mason. "It can attack every monster on the field."

"So?" snorted Mason. "My dragon is still too strong –" He stopped.

"…as long as you have your other creatures," Ethan finished for him. "And you won't, when I'm through with you. Go, Asura Priest! Destroy his Element Doom!"

Ethan's priest charged at the strange monster, wrapping his arms around it and crushing it. Mason stumbled back, holding his head.

"Now, my priest, attack the Scapegoats!" The Asura Priest dealt with the small monsters just as effectively as it had the larger one.

"Finally, destroy Ryo-Wo, The Dragon Deity!" Ethan's monster dived into the weakened dragon. For a short while nothing happened. Finally, in a brilliant burst of light, the dragon disintegrated, leaving only the Asura Priest.

Partly from shock and partly from the damage, Mason stumbled backwards and fell. He clutched his head as his life points dropped to 4000.

Ethan was ecstatic. Then he realized that his turn was ending, and he would soon have no defense. He looked frantically at his hand. Those swords…they seemed familiar for some reason. Well, Ethan decided, I have nothing to lose from this. He selected the card and inserted it into his duel disk. Instantly, dozens of glowing swords descended and surrounded Mason. Satisfied, Ethan said, "I think that will do for now. I'll end my turn." His spirit monster returned to his hand.

Mason glared at Ethan as he rose. "I still have over five times the life points you do. This duel's not over." He reached for his deck and drew his next card.

--

Ethan watched his opponent carefully. He noted, with some amusement, the look of confusion on Mason's face. So I was right, Ethan thought. Our knowledge of our decks is tied to our monsters. When they are destroyed, we forget our cards, our decks, our strategies… His thought trailed off, as he realized what this duel had become. Life Points were hardly relevant anymore. The key to victory was in the sabotage of the opponent's mind.

Ethan continued with this new train of thought. Now, more than ever, drawing and hand advantage was crucial. So far, only the memory of cards in his hand was affected, which meant that the only playable cards were the ones he drew. Suddenly, Ethan realized that given time, Mason would come to the same conclusion. He couldn't afford to give Mason that time.

"Hey!" Ethan called. "Let's go! It's your turn!"

Mason looked up in annoyance, but only briefly. His attention quickly returned to four cards in his hand. There were two orange ones, one green one, and the card he had just drawn, Elemental Recharge. That wouldn't help unless he had some monsters, but Ethan had destroyed them all! Mason realized that he obviously had two in his hand, but he had no idea what they were. He impulsively grabbed the one with four stars and played it vertically.

A large brown dinosaur appeared on the field. It roared, and some fire escaped from its mouth. "I'll play…that…" said Mason uncertainly. "I'll end my turn by playing a card face down," he finished, sliding a card into his duel disk.

Ethan saw the strain in Mason's face as soon as he played the monster. He considered the implications as he drew his next card. Ethan realized that this put him in a very interesting situation. He could either destroy Mason's monsters to keep him in constant ignorance of his deck, or he could force Mason to play several monsters and hope that he succumbed to the strain. Both options were appealing. Ethan slowly added the card to his hand, considering the two choices. He remembered Mason's surprising resilience to the stress earlier, when he had played Dragon's Mirror. Well, I can probably rule out that option, Ethan decided.

Ethan's hand moved back to the card he had drawn. He grabbed it and placed it vertically on his duel disk. "I'll summon Spirit Caller to the field," Ethan said. "His ability lets me summon a Spirit monster from my hand, so I'll also summon Yamata Dragon!"

Ethan felt the tenseness in his chest, but was determined to ignore it. "Yamata Dragon!" he called. "Destroy that monster!" The eight heads of Ethan's monster each shot out a sort of webbing, ensnaring the dinosaur. The webbing constricted, and Mason's monster shattered into hundreds of pieces. Mason staggered backwards, clutching his head. "Now, Spirit Caller, attack him directly!"

This time the force of the attack knocked Mason to the ground. His life points dropped to 1900. "Now my dragon returns to my hand, but don't worry. He'll be back," Ethan said. "Also, when Yamata Dragon deals damage to you, I can draw until I have five cards. Your move."

As Ethan added two cards to his hand, Mason managed to get back on his feet. He looked at his hand, then the field, realizing that he knew neither what his face down card was, nor the effects of any of the cards in his hand. With some apprehension, he drew his next card.

Mason looked blankly at the card he had drawn. This card was completely foreign to him as well. He let out a frustrated sigh, and looked at it again. Wait. What did it matter if he didn't know the card name or its effect? The picture was quite clear, showing two players exchanging cards. His eyes light up, and he slid it into his duel disk.

"I may not know what's in my hand," Mason called to Ethan, "but there's no reason why I would be ignorant of your cards either. So now I'll activate my exchanging card! Now we each select a card in our opponent's hand and add it to our own!" he finished hopefully.

Ethan reluctantly joined Mason in the middle of the field and held out the cards in his hand. He was a bit surprised to see a smile appear on Mason's face. "Ha!" Mason laughed. "You had Pot of Greed and you didn't play it? Well, it's too late now. Hand it over."

Shocked, Ethan re-examined the cards in his hand. So that was what the smiling jar was. Of course. Ethan silently cursed as he realized how costly of a mistake he had made. With a dark look, he gave the card to Mason.

"I'll take your Element Magician," he told Mason. When he saw Mason's confused look, Ethan grabbed the card and said contemptuously, "The only monster in your hand, genius."

Mason felt his anger rising once more, but managed to remain outwardly calm. Remember, he told himself, you can now draw two cards, and there's a pretty good chance that you'll know what they are. This duel is almost over. Just finish it, and you'll be rid of Ethan forever.

As soon as he returned to his original spot, Mason activated the card. "I'll use your Pot of Greed to draw two new cards!" he called to Ethan, adding the new cards to his hand. He looked at the new cards in recognition. The first card was unrecognizable, but the second was one of the most powerful cards in his deck. Mason smiled as he looked at it, realizing that he was very close to winning the duel. He held the card up, showing it to Ethan.

"Now I'll activate the spell card Fusion Sage! By paying half my life points, I can summon a Fusion monster, as long as I send the required monsters from my deck to the graveyard!" Mason grimaced slightly as his life points dropped to 950, but still picked up his deck and began searching through it. He selected one card, then another, then a third, and finally a fourth card. With each additional selection, Ethan grew more nervous. Any monster made up of four others was indeed something to be feared.

Mason held up the four cards, but Ethan hadn't seen any of them before. "I'll combine my four Elemental Heroes to summon Elemental Hero Electrum!"

A massive golden humanoid appeared on the field. One of his fists was enveloped in flames, and the other was surrounded by ice. A strong wind whirled around the creature as well.

"Due to your Swords of Revealing Light, I have to wait another two turns before I can attack," Mason said. "I'll end my turn."

Ethan looked worriedly at Mason's new monster as he drew. He looked at the new card with some disappointment, realizing that it couldn't help him right now. "I'll switch my Spirit Caller into defense mode. Also, I'll summon your Element Magician!"

A woman in a green dress appeared on the field. Suddenly, Mason's Elemental Hero Electrum raised his ice-covered hand. The Element Magician immediately moved over to Mason's side of the field.

Ethan stared at the field in shock. Suddenly the realization hit him. Of course! When there was a Water monster on the field, control of the Element Magician couldn't switch! One of Electrum's attributes was Water, and since the Element Magician was originally Mason's monster, it was returning to its rightful place! Ethan groaned. "I'm done. Go."

Mason smiled. This duel was his. He needed to wait one more turn before he could attack, but once he did, Ethan would be out of the tournament permanently. He drew his next card and inserted it into his duel disk. "I'll play a card face down," Mason said, then selected a monster from his hand. He didn't know what it was, but he could tell that it was a Dark monster. Perfect. "I'll also summon this monster," Mason continued, placing the card vertically on his duel disk. A warrior wearing golden armor appeared on the field. He was armed with a lance and had a flowing purple cape. "That's all for now," he finished nonchalantly, as the shining swords surrounding his monsters disappeared. "Your turn."

Ethan drew a card and looked at it with relief. He needed some defense, and this would do the job. "I'll summon my Earthbound Spirit in defense mode," Ethan said, placing the card horizontally on his duel disk. "I'll also play one card face down," he finished, selecting the card he had drawn the previous turn. "Your move."

Mason drew a card and looked at Ethan. "This is where it ends for you. Go, Element Magician! Destroy his Spirit Caller!" The woman made a series of intricate gestures, then motioned as though she was throwing something at Ethan's monster. The Spirit Caller disintegrated. "Elemental Hero Electrum! Destroy his final monster!" Electrum swung a fiery fist at Ethan's Earthbound Spirit, destroying it. "Now, my warrior, finish him off! Attack Ethan's life points directly!"

"Hold on!" called Ethan. "When you destroyed my Earthbound Spirit, I activated Spiritual Earth Art – Kurogane! When an Earth monster is destroyed, this card allows me to summon The Rock Spirit!"

A great warrior rose from the ground and stood protectively in front of Ethan. The Element Soldier halted his attack and stepped back.

Mason frowned. "Not bad," he admitted. "But I'm not done yet. I'll activate my face down card, Elemental Recharge!" Mason paused and looked at Ethan. "You remember the effect of Doriado's Blessing. This card has the same effect, except I discard my entire hand first." He slid the cards into the discard slot on his duel disk. "But I have no problem with that," Mason continued as he drew six new cards. "Thanks to your attacks, I didn't know what any of those cards did, anyway. Now I get a chance to start over!"

Mason examined his new hand. "I'll play Elemental Hero Sparkman and end my turn." He was beginning to breathe heavily again from the strain.

Ethan looked at the field. Mason had four monsters, and he only had one. He had used most of his good cards already, and couldn't think of any way to protect himself from the inevitable attack. Taking a deep breath, Ethan drew his next card. He slowly rotated it towards himself. His eyes widened.

"I'll activate Card Destruction!" Ethan called. "Now we each discard our hands and draw the same number of cards we discarded!" He sent his two cards to the graveyard and drew two more. Mason, startled, discarded his hand and drew another five cards. He looked at the deck area of his duel disk in disbelief. There were only two cards left.

Ethan looked at new cards and smiled. "I'll play one card face down and end my turn."

Mason looked at Ethan in surprise. "That's all?" he asked. "I still have two turns to beat you, and I only need one." He drew a card.

"Yes," replied Ethan. "You only need one. You won't get one."

"What are you talking about?" asked Mason in annoyance. "What can you possibly do to stop me?"

Seemingly ignoring his question, Ethan asked, "You remember when you played Exchange? You took my Pot of Greed card. I'm still upset about that."

"Who cares?" Mason snorted.

Unperturbed, Ethan continued, "But you know what? I'm willing to let that go. In fact, you might say I've had a change of heart." He looked directly at Mason. "Since you like that card so much, I offer you the Gift of Greed."

A white box appeared on the field. It opened to show a green jar similar to the one the Pot of Greed card. "Go ahead," Ethan said. "Draw your two cards."

Mason looked at the field, then at the lone card in his deck slot, then back at the field. "I…I can't," he said weakly.

"That's right!" cried Ethan triumphantly. "You can't!" His voice became ice cold. "That means you lose," Ethan hissed.

Mason dropped to his knees, staring vacantly at the ground. "I lose…" he repeated. Suddenly he grabbed his head and screamed. The haze surrounding the field closed around him. Mason gasped and coughed as though he was choking. The haze dissipated, and Mason slumped forward, apparently unconscious.

"Good riddance," said Ethan quietly as he walked away.  



	5. The Tournament Finals

Ethan walked slowly back to the waiting area, thinking hard. His deck was supposed to be the ultimate deck, the unbeatable deck. So what was wrong with it? Sure, he had won all three of his matches, but the last two were much too close for comfort. Ethan realized that he should have lost those two, and only luck had prevented that. He let out a frustrated sigh as he remembered his words, "True duelists don't need luck."

True duelists don't need luck. Just how accurate was that statement? After all, card games relied heavily on chance, since every game could bring something different. But no, Ethan thought. If a deck contains only good cards, any draw would be a good one. He thought about his own deck. There were several cards that he could think of that made good combos, but were dead draws in the wrong situations. That was unacceptable. Ethan immediately resolved to go through his deck and remove any weaknesses.

As he entered the lobby, Ethan noticed a girl sitting at one of the tables with her head down. Sara? As he moved closer, he noticed that she was trembling a little. Was Sara crying?

"Got kicked out of the tournament early, I see," Ethan taunted as he walked by. "But don't worry! You'd have had to duel me eventually, and you'd just lose. So consider yourself lucky."

Sara looked up, shocked, but Ethan kept on walking. "Oh, also, could you keep it down? Some of us have duels to prepare for," he added with a sharp laugh.

Sara's mouth started moving, but no words came out. Finally, she managed a distressed "Ethan!"

Ethan nearly kept on walking, but something in Sara's tone caused him to stop. He turned around to look at her. "What do you want?" he snarled. "I'm busy."

Sara swallowed, trying to speak without bursting into tears again. "Ethan, I didn't lose. I haven't lost yet."

Ethan looked hard at her. Sara didn't seem like the type who would lie. "So why on earth are you crying?" he asked her. "Are you really that scared to duel me? Geez, even that first kid I dueled didn't take it that hard. Well, not before the duel, anyway. After I broke him, I'll bet he did a lot of crying," Ethan said with an evil grin.

Sara stared at Ethan in disbelief. "How could you say such a thing?" she asked incredulously. "What's the matter with you? You weren't like this when we first met…"

"Things have changed," shrugged Ethan.

"What could possibly have changed?" cried Sara. "When we first dueled, you were normal! Then when I called the next morning, you hardly even talked to me! Now you're hurting people and you don't even care!" Sara was in tears once more.

"So?" Ethan said. "They knew they risks when they entered. And correct me if I'm wrong, but you're doing the same thing to your opponents."

"Why do you think I'm crying?!" shouted Sara. In most people that tone would indicate anger, but for Sara it was a mix of exasperation and guilt. "In the first duel, everything was fine. It was like a friendly duel, and no one got hurt. Then in the second round, each attack began to hurt. It was still a simple competitive duel, but when I defeated my opponent, he dropped to the ground and hasn't moved since!"

"Yeah, it happens," mumbled Ethan and he began to look through his deck.

"Listen to me!" shouted Sara. Ethan looked up in surprise, nearly dropping his cards. "Sorry…" Sara said apologetically. "It's just that this tournament has been so stressful! I can't duel without hurting someone, and I don't want that! Last round, I knew what would happen. I knew that winning would knock my opponent out, and who knows what else! But I still had to duel!"

"I don't see why that's such a hard decision," snorted Ethan. "They'll probably recover. It's not like you killed them or anything."

"You don't know that!" cried Sara. "You don't know if they'll recover, and I don't know if they'll recover! That's why the last duel was so hard." Her voice quieted, as though she was talking to herself. "We both knew what would happen if we lost. But we also both knew what would happen if we forfeited. There was really no choice but to duel." Sara paused, thinking. "But there was a choice. I could have forfeited. I could have prevented my opponent from getting hurt. But I didn't!"

Sara began to cry once more as she buried her head in her arms. "Does that make me selfish? Because I cared about myself more than my opponent? I don't know!"

Ethan looked at her, genuinely surprised at what he was hearing. Sara was actually sorry that she hadn't taken the fall for her opponent! Ethan almost brushed it off as foolishness, but something caused him to reconsider. He looked at Sara again in astonishment. Here was someone who had no anger or malice, but only remorse. Remorse for winning!

Ethan considered his own actions, which were in stark contrast to Sara's. Maybe he wasn't simply being competitive. Did he actually want to hurt the people he dueled? Shocked, Ethan realized the answer. He was acting out of anger. How much of this anger was justified?

Ethan slowly walked away, thinking. As he sat down at another table and pulled out his deck, he looked back at Sara. Yes, Ethan decided, the anger was justified. All of his opponents were trying to injure him, and he was just defending himself. Was he being malicious? Ethan considered the duel with Matthew. Sure, he had used an extreme move, but what was he supposed to do? Hold back to avoid "hurting" someone?

There was only one course of action, Ethan decided. He had to duel his hardest all of the time, and if someone got hurt, well, better Sara than him. But to duel his hardest, he would need to have his best deck. Ethan opened his backpack and searched through the cards in it. After some consideration, he replaced about a half dozen of the cards in his deck. The cards he took out were good, but the cards he put in were much better. Ethan looked through his deck once more, satisfied with the results. He walked back to Sara.

"Let's go. It's time to duel," he told her.

"I can't duel anymore!" cried Sara. "I don't want to hurt anyone else, even you!"

"A forfeit counts as a loss, remember," said Ethan. "And I don't need to hear any of the 'I'm saving you' nonsense. You beat me in our first duel, and now it's time for our rematch."

Sara looked up at Ethan, stunned. "Is that really all you care about? Okay, I'll admit it. You're better than me. I only beat you because of luck. Happy?"

"Hah! Not by a long shot," Ethan replied. "I need to prove it, both to you and to myself. That means we're dueling. I'm not going to let you forfeit, and I'm willing to wait for as long as it takes." He left in the direction of the duel arena.

"Ethan!" Sara called after him. Ethan ignored her and kept on walking.

--

Sara watched Ethan leave and tried to make some sense out of what was happening. Why had Ethan changed immediately after she had defeated him? Sure, she could attribute part of it to Ethan's desire to prove that he was the best. But competition didn't make demons out of people. There had to be something else.

Sara considered how other duelists had responded to their losses. Obviously, most were unconscious now, but the first round duelists were still functional. Her own opponent had taken losing gracefully. So had most of the others, it seemed. So why was Ethan different?

Suddenly Sara realized the answer. Immediately after Ethan had lost the first duel, something strange had happened. The haze had surrounded him and he had appeared to be in pain. That was exactly what had happened in the semifinals! The only difference was that the systems remained on for the duration of the event. In Ethan's case, the professor had shut off the power almost immediately after the duel!

These shadows were undoubtedly evil. They were injuring the duelists when life points were lost, removing their memories when monsters were destroyed, and rendering them unconscious when they lost. Maybe…maybe the shadows would enter the loser's body to destroy or remove something, then exit? This forced intrusion would definitely cause pain, and the affected person would become a shell of their former self when it was all over.

Sara began to become excited, sure that she had found the answer. So that's why Ethan was different! The shadows had entered him and, unable to leave once the power was shut off, remained there!

Sara raised her duel disk and looked at the gold sphere embedded in it. So this was the source of all of the problems. These spheres were inherently evil, and supplying energy to them caused them to release the shadows. Sara briefly wondered if they could be used, somehow, to reverse the process. Since the shadows influenced a person's mind, maybe the person's mind could also influence the shadows!

Armed with this new knowledge, Sara rose and confidently walked to the duel arena. She would save Ethan, no matter what it took.

--

"It's about time," Ethan called as Sara entered the duel arena. "Now our rematch can begin!" He raised his duel disk above him, and shadow energy began spewing out of the gold sphere embedded in the disk. The arena was quickly engulfed in a dark, smoke-like substance.

Sara suddenly felt a coldness run through her. She looked around quickly, trying to see what was going on. It was no use. Only her duel disk was visible. "Ethan!" she called. "Ethan, what happened? Where are you?"

Sara felt a tingle down her spine as Ethan's disembodied voice came from out of the darkness. "I'm still here. What's the matter? Afraid of the dark?"

"There's something wrong, Ethan," Sara said urgently. "The other duels weren't like this. I can't see anything at all! It even feels different! The air is too thick…it's hard to breathe!"

"Of course the other duels weren't like this," came the reply. "This is at the highest energy level. We are now truly dueling in the shadows. Can you handle it?"

Sara took a deep breath. "I guess I'll have to. Let's begin!" she said as she drew her starting hand. "I'll play my Fairy Guardian in defense mode," she continued, placing the card horizontally on her duel disk. As she did so, a small creature with six wings emerged from her body and moved to the field, dropping to one knee. A purple stream of energy connected Sara to her monster.

"What's going on?" Sara cried. "Why is my fairy attached to me?"

"I'm sure you'll find out soon enough," she heard from the shadows. "Are you finished?"

"Yes," replied Sara. "Your turn."

"Good," said Ethan's voice. "Then I'll summon Susa Soldier to the field!"

A warrior appeared on the field holding a mighty blade. The energy trailing from him allowed Sara to see Ethan's silhouette. "Susa Soldier! Destroy her Fairy Guardian!" Ethan called out.

The spirit soldier rushed at Sara's monster and thrust his sword into the fairy's heart. Sara screamed and crumpled to the ground as the Fairy Guardian disappeared. She lay there motionless.

"One attack," murmured Ethan. "You couldn't even last one attack. Pathetic."

The shadows began to close in on Sara. Suddenly, just as they were about to engulf her, they stopped. Sara had moved! As the shadows returned to their original position, she raised her head feebly and shivered. "…so cold…it's so cold…" she mumbled.

Ethan stared on in amazement. The sensations Sara was experiencing weren't a surprise; after all, these shadows caused duelists to feel what their monsters did. It generally stopped short of killing them, and instead allowed the duelists to feel what the injury was like while remaining alive. Naturally, if the heart stopped, no blood would circulate through the body, and no heat would be brought to the appendages and organs. That wasn't what shocked him.

What surprised him was that Sara managed to regain consciousness. The mental trauma of the shadows, especially at their full strength, surpassed the threshold of most people. But here she was, slowly rising to her feet. He hadn't expected that level of resilience from someone like Sara, and he definitely wasn't prepared for it.

Ethan looked at his side of the field and realized that his deck still contained a major weakness. Most of his monsters returned to his hand at the end of the turn. In many situations that was advantageous, but right now it was a major liability. Sara would be free to attack him directly next turn. He looked at his hand, searching for a solution. There it was!

"I'll activate Seal of the Ancients!" he called, playing the card. "As long as this card remains in play, the state of the field cannot change. That means no cards can be played and no cards can be destroyed. It also prevents my Susa Soldier from returning to my hand."

Green bands of energy encircled the field, and a skeletal hand emerged from the ground and grabbed Ethan's monster, restraining it. Sara looked on dully. "I think that will do for now," Ethan said with a smile. "Your move."

Sara reached a trembling hand towards her deck and drew a card. Her hand was shaking too much for her to see the card, so she forced her hand against her duel disk to steady it. She had drawn Herald of Green Light. Sara looked at the field, then back at the card. She didn't like what she had to do, but there seemed to be no other option.

"I'll activate the effect of Herald of the Green Light by sending it and my Guardian Elma to the graveyard," Sara said quietly. "This destroys your Seal of the Ancients."  
Immediately the green energy surrounding the field was dispelled. The skeletal hand released its hold on Ethan's monster, which disappeared from the field. The darkness enveloped Ethan once again, hiding the look of shock that he no doubt wore.

Sara looked at the remaining cards in her hand, silently thanking her two monsters for their sacrifice. She felt some regret that she had discarded those monsters as if they were worthless, but if she hadn't, then Ethan would have easily won. Sara resolved to bring them back. No one should have to be sent into the shadows forever; not Ethan, and not her monsters.

Sara shakily selected another monster from her hand and placed it on her duel disk.

"I'll summon Gellenduo, in defense mode," she said, shivering as she did so. "Your move."

As two small fairies appeared on the field, Ethan caught a glimpse of Sara. She looked thoroughly uncomfortable. Ethan smiled evilly. Her last move had played directly into his strategy, even if she didn't know it yet.

"Look at you," Ethan called. "Only two turns have passed, and you can barely stand. You're not thinking at all, either. Take a look at your life point counter."

Sara slowly looked at the top of her duel disk. Her eyes widened. The counter was completely blank!

"That's right," confirmed Ethan. "True shadow duels aren't about life points. They're a test of endurance. The winner is the one who remains standing at the end of the duel."

Sara's mind wasn't working as fast as it should have been. Her gaze drifted uncertainly towards her monster.

Ethan sighed. "Playing monsters in defense mode does nothing for you!" he shouted. "No matter what mode it's in, you'll still feel any attacks it receives! If you had summoned Gellenduo in attack mode, you could have struck at me! I have no defenses! Instead, you played it in defense mode. Not only does Gellenduo have zero defense points, but it's not destroyed by battle either! That means every turn, I can attack it, and you'll feel the impact as though I was attacking you directly!"

Sara finally realized her mistake. She stared at the darkness, a vague apprehension slowly making itself known inside her chilled mind. "You've dug yourself into a hole," came Ethan's voice from the darkness. "Your thinking is impaired from my earlier strike, and your performance will continue to degenerate with each attack, starting with this one!"

A demonic looking humanoid rose from the ground, illuminating Ethan in a red glow.

"Spirit of Flames! Attack her Gellenduo with your Searing Fists!"

Ethan's monster rushed at the two tiny fairies. It struck each of them with a crushing blow. Sara screamed as her body was contorted suddenly. She continued to cry out in pain as she crumpled forward, holding her body.

"What's the matter? You looked cold. Didn't that warm you up?" Ethan taunted.

Sara didn't answer. She couldn't answer. There was still shooting pain in her chest from Ethan's first attack, and now her side and stomach were in agony as well. Not only was there the dull pain of impact, but the searing pain of burning flesh was present also. Sara stayed on the ground, hoping that the pain would lessen. It didn't.

Ethan folded his arms impatiently. Sara was still fighting. She wasn't about to give this duel up, and whether or not he liked to admit it, Ethan was impressed. He reminded himself that this was nothing unusual; simply desperation to not be engulfed by the shadows for all eternity.

Sara managed to rise to one knee. The pain of just moving was nearly unbearable. She stayed there a moment, collecting her strength. Then, gritting her teeth, Sara stood up. She took a deep breath, but even that seemed like inhaling fire. She swayed unsteadily, looking around for some sort of support. There was none, and Sara fell back down to her knees.

"I'll end my turn by placing one card face down," Ethan called. "You'd better get up soon, or I'll assume that you passed on your turn."

Sara stayed on her knees, trying to think. Why had she agreed to this duel? There seemed to be no possible outcome except for one duelist losing their soul, and the other being mentally scarred for a long time, possibly even the rest of their life. Was there really any way to change this? If she lost, Ethan would continue his rampage, hurting more innocent people. If she won, there was no guarantee that Ethan or any of the other duelists would recover.

Sara weighed her options. Somehow, she had to free Ethan from the shadows that were controlling him. Once that was accomplished, she could do the same to the others. But how would this be possible? She could hardly focus on the cards in her hand. She didn't want to hurt Ethan by attacking him, but she also didn't want to let his monsters reduce her to unconsciousness.

Sara looked in despair at the field as the darkness began to close in on her mind. It all seemed so hopeless.

--

Sara shook her head to clear it, but only succeeded in increasing her headache. She slowly rose to her feet, and managed to stay up this time. As long as I can still duel, there's hope, Sara decided. She drew her next card and added it to her hand. She then selected another card and played it vertically on her duel disk.

"I'll sacrifice my Gellenduo to summon Wingweaver," Sara said softly as the great fairy appeared on the field. "That's all."

Ethan had been about to brace himself for the attack, and looked at Sara in disbelief. Why hadn't she attacked? "I don't know what you're trying to do," he called to her. "You should have attacked me. Now it's my turn, and don't think that I'll hold back like you did."

Sara stood there, holding herself with her arms in a futile attempt to stay warm, still aching from the earlier attacks. She didn't want to hurt Ethan, and a strong defense was probably the best way to prevent that. Ethan probably wouldn't be able to attack her, unless he played an incredibly strong monster. Given the transient nature of his spirit monsters, that probably wasn't likely.

Ethan drew a card and added it to his hand. He looked at the cards, frowning. None of these cards were what he needed. "I'll play Earthbound Spirit," he decided. "Your move."

Sara drew, but simply said, "I'll pass."

Sara's passive play began to aggravate Ethan. "Do something!" he yelled at her. "This is a rematch to see which of us is the better duelist! If you don't want to win, just forfeit! If you do want to win, then attack! Summon! Do anything!"

"I'll pass," Sara repeated. "It's your turn."

Ethan viciously draw his next card. This was more like it, he thought as he saw the card. He began to calm down. If Sara wanted to lose, he could definitely hasten the process. "I'll sacrifice my two monsters to summon Hino-Kagu-Tsuchi!" he yelled. A dark skinned, muscled human figure appeared, emitting a reddish glow. "Go, my spirit! Show her Wingweaver no mercy!"

Ethan's monster grappled with the fairy, gripping her in a tight wrestler's hold. In a swift move, he broke her neck. Both the Wingweaver and Sara dropped to the floor. "Now you see the consequences of your inactivity," said Ethan. "Hino-Kagu-Tsuchi returns to my hand now, but his effect still activates. If you can make it to your next turn, discard your hand before you draw. Go."

Sara raised her head slowly, feeling a new pain on it. I must have hit it on the ground when I fell, she thought. Suddenly, Sara realized that the head injury was the only pain she felt. The amazement almost instantly turned to fear as she realized that she couldn't feel anything at all below her neck. She slid her arms forward, having to confirm visually that they were actually moving. Her entire body was numb.

"Ethan!" Sara cried worriedly. "Ethan, what's happened? Why can't I feel anything?"

"My monster broke your fairy's neck," Ethan said indifferently. "Consequently, your nervous system is working as though your neck was broken as well."

Sara tried to control her fear. This is only temporary, she tried to tell herself. This is an illusion caused by the shadows. When the duel is over, I'll be fine. Sara found it hard to believe her own words, so she instead tried to put it out of her mind and focus on the duel.

Sara had some trouble drawing her next card, since she couldn't feel the card. Twice her fingers slid through the air without even making contact with her deck. Finally, her third attempt succeeded. "I'll play one card face down," Sara said, her voice noticeably wavering. "Your turn."

Ethan couldn't believe that Sara was still dueling. He couldn't see her, but he knew that she must still be lying prone. Unbelievable. He had to finish this duel now. "My turn," Ethan called. "I'll summon Spirit Ryu in attack mode!" A winged purple serpent appeared on the field. "Go, Spirit Ryu!" Attack her directly! End this duel!"

As Ethan's monster flew towards Sara, a sudden bright light appeared in the middle of the field. "I activate Wall of Revealing Light!" he heard Sara say. "As long as this remains on the field, only Fairies can attack!

"More stalling," sighed Ethan. "Fine. Your turn."

Sara drew her next card at looked at it in disappointment. This was a high level monster, and that didn't help her. She knew that Ethan would eventually find a way around her wall, and she needed some sort of defense. This wasn't it. "There's nothing I can do," she sighed. "It's your turn."

Ethan drew his next card. "You say that your wall won't protect against fairies?" he asked Sara.

Sara looked up in alarm. "Yes, that's right…" she said slowly.

"Excellent," replied Ethan. "Then I'll summon my Asura Priest! Since it's a Fairy monster, it can attack you!"

Sara lay there helpless. She could hardly move, and couldn't defend herself from the spirit's flurry of blows. The Asura Priest left just as quickly as it had come, leaving Sara motionless on the ground.

--

Ethan stood calmly, looking at the fallen Sara. She had no defense against his Asura Priest. Once again, he was in control of this duel. If Sara wasn't out of the duel yet, she soon would be.

But wait! Sara was still moving! How was this possible? Any normal person should have succumbed to the strain long ago! Speechless, Ethan could only stare at Sara as she falteringly drew her next card.

Sara could barely lift her head, but did so enough to see the card. She slid it into her duel disk. "I'll activate Macro Cosmos," she said. "This lets me summon Helios – The Primordial Sun." A strange creature rose above the field. It had the body of a woman, but its head was a bright glowing sphere. "Now, if Helios was summoned with Macro Cosmos, the rest of the Planetars can join her." Sara was speaking slowly, due to her pain and fatigue. "Come forth, Agents of the Cosmos: Mercury, the Agent of Wisdom; Venus, the Agent of Creation; Isis, the Earth Mother; Mars, the Agent of Force; and Saturn, the Agent of Judgment!" The monsters appeared on the field one by one, and Sara's head sank back down.

Ethan looked at the array of monsters facing him. He definitely hadn't expected Sara to last this long, and he had no idea that her deck was this powerful. His gaze shifted to Sara. She couldn't even stand and she was still dueling him. Ethan's curiosity finally got the best of him. "How in the world are you still dueling?" he asked in frustration. "I've hit you with some of my best monsters, and you're still coherent. How is this possible?"

Sara raised her head slightly, just enough to look Ethan in the eyes. She smiled a little. "I'm fighting for you, Ethan."

"What? What do you mean?" asked Ethan, taken aback.

"As long as I continue to fight, there's a chance that I can save you from the shadows," Sara replied. "I know this isn't the real you. There's a darkness inside you from our first duel, whether or not you want to admit it. It's changed you. It's made you cruel and sadistic. It's made you more concerned with the duel then with the duelists."

"That's ridiculous!" cried Ethan. "I just want to win. That's what everyone wants!"

"But at what cost?" Sara pressed. "Is winning so important that you're willing to risk peoples' lives for it?"

"Well…" Ethan began, but stopped. He was instantly angry with himself for doing so. To anyone else he would have replied with a definitive, "Of course!" Why was Sara so different? What was she doing to him?

"Ethan?"

Ethan opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. He closed it again, his mind in turmoil.

"Good," Sara said approvingly. "You're beginning to fight the shadows."

Ethan raised his head sharply and looked at her. "There's nothing wrong with me!" he yelled. "Stop stalling and let's finish this!" He drew a card, looked at it, and slid it into his duel disk. "I'll activate Spiritual Wind Art – Miyabi! By tributing my Spirit Ryu, I can return one card on the field to your deck. I choose your Wall of Revealing Light!" The shining wall flickered and vanished. The field darkened slightly, now only illuminated by Helios. "Next, I'll activate Spiritualism to summon my Dark Dust Spirit!" Immediately a gruesome red humanoid rose up from the ground. Spikes covered its shoulders and back, and its eyes shone with a dull yellow light. "His effect lets me destroy all other monsters on the field," Ethan said with a smile. The duel was finally back in his hands.

A great cloud of sand appeared, encircling Sara's monsters. Helios remained above the sand. Sara's monsters were surrounded by the sand and destroyed. She began choking and coughing.

"I see that your sun monster was able to avoid the effect of my Dust Spirit," Ethan said. "But no matter. That means she also can't stop my attack!"

"No," gasped Sara. "Ethan. I know that the real you doesn't want to hurt anyone. Fight the shadows, Ethan. You don't need to do this."

Ethan, stopped, stunned. He looked at his monster, then at the defenseless Sara.

"Ethan," Sara repeated. "You're not going to attack. I have faith in you."

This was too much for Ethan. "You put your faith in the wrong person," he snarled. "Dark Dust Spirit! Attack her directly with your Suffocating Sand attack!"

Ethan saw Sara's eyes widen just before his view was obscured by the cloud of dust. He could hear her gasping for air, and felt a sudden regret. Why had he attacked? Sara had nothing against him, Ethan realized. He couldn't even call it self defense, since Sara never attacked, even when she had the chance. This wasn't right. He couldn't continue to attack a defenseless person, especially one like Sara. But wasn't that what the professor had done to him? Attacking, over and over, just to win? He was completely justified in doing this. It was part of the game.

Suddenly Ethan realized the truth. Part of the game. This was a game! Revenge had no place here! Winning wasn't important, as long as both duelists played their best! That was all anyone could ask for, and that was all anyone needed to give! The best duelist wasn't the one that won all of the time, but the one who always played a fair game, treated their opponent with respect, and played to the best of their abilities!

He was shaken from his thoughts by a sound from Sara. What? How was she still conscious?

"Ethan," Sara said weakly. "Ethan, I still believe in you. I know there's still good in you."

Ethan couldn't talk. He could barely think. After all he had done, Sara still wasn't angry with him! How could anyone be so forgiving? How could anyone be so virtuous?

Sara's head dropped. The monsters on the field began to fade. "Sara!" Ethan cried. He threw off his duel disk and ran to her. The shadows began to close in on them. "No! Don't go!" He looked frantically around. "Stop!" Ethan yelled uselessly at the shadows. "Stop! Stop!"

Ethan threw himself down, trying to shield Sara with his body. Their faces were next to each other, and she turned her head slightly to look at him. "I knew you could defeat the shadows," she whispered. "Goodbye for now, Ethan."

"No!" cried Ethan. He grabbed Sara tightly, trying to protect her from the impending shadows. It was no use. The darkness just bypassed him, entering Sara. Ethan could feel her body tense briefly, then go limp.

The light returned to the arena, but Ethan just lay there with Sara, crying.  



	6. The Adventure Begins

The remaining duelists began to enter the arena, forming a circle around Ethan and Sara. There were only eight of them; the others had fallen victim to the shadows. Ethan looked up at them. No one spoke.

Finally, Ethan said, "We need to find out more about these gold spheres. Where did they come from? What are they capable of? How can we use them?"

The other duelists exchanged glances. Still no one spoke. Their eyes returned to Ethan in expectation.

Ethan looked at each of the faces around him. There was no anger or blame in them. Instead, the faces expressed gloom, and understandably so. In the span of a few hours, many friends and fellow duelists had been lost, and there was no apparent way to bring them back. Ethan sighed. This was entirely his fault, and he knew it. He looked down at Sara, then back up to the duelists.

"We're in bad shape," Ethan told the others. "The professor, the only person who knows anything about the shadows, is unconscious. The best duelists here are also comatose. As for the globes themselves, well, I don't think anyone has dealt with objects like these for at least 40 years. It may be even longer than that." He paused to collect his thoughts, then continued, "Our best bet is probably the museum. If I remember correctly, the professor found the spheres there. Perhaps there's an exhibit; at the very least, we should be able to find someone who knows something about them."

Ethan looked at the duelists once more. Their expressions were still sad, but there was the slightest trace of hope beginning to show. Good, thought Ethan. This is working, but they need something more. He stood up. "There's no way to apologize for what I've done. No words or actions are sufficient. However, I can promise that I will do all that I can to ensure that our friends return to us." He looked at each of them, then said, "I need your help. Are you with me?"

Slowly one duelist began to nod, then another. Determination filled their eyes. "Then let's do this," said Ethan confidently. "The workers here will look after the others and make sure that they get medical aid. Let's go!"

Ethan slid off his duel disk and put it in his backpack. This might help at the museum, he thought. He closed his backpack and moved towards the entrance of the lab, followed by the others.

Ethan opened the front doors and stopped suddenly. A gigantic man towered over him. The man was at least a foot and a half taller than Ethan, and had the build of a powerlifter. However, the man's size was instantly forgotten as Ethan noticed his eyes. The irises were a deep grey, almost black, making the pupils seem twice as big as they should have been. The man looked straight into Ethan's eyes; in fact, it seemed as though he was looking into Ethan's mind. Ethan didn't like the sensation at all.

"Where are the Millennium Spheres?"

The voice was deep, and had a slightly threatening tone. Ethan jumped, looked at the other duelists, then back at the man. "Wha…what? Millennium…"

"You heard me. You've used them. You've been influenced by them. Where are they?"

Millennium Spheres? Could he be referring to the gold objects that they used to duel? "You mean this?" Ethan asked as he pulled out the duel disk.

The man raised an eyebrow, but merely said, "We'll see." He slid off the glove on his left hand, revealing a ring with a strange eye on it. The ring glowed, and an eye just like the one on the ring appeared on the flat part of the sphere. "That's one of them," the man confirmed as he put his glove back on. The eye on the sphere faded.

"So you know about these?" Ethan asked. "You know what they do, where they come from?"

"I know a great deal about them," replied the man. "Most importantly, that they're in the wrong hands."

"Is that right?" asked Ethan. "So who do they really belong to?"

"Me." The man reached out his massive hand.

Ethan was slightly intimidated, but he wasn't going to give in that easily. "Hold on," he said. "We have several friends back in this building who are unconscious right now. We think it's because of these spheres. Do you know of a way to reverse the process?"

"Of course I know how to reverse the process," the man returned. "I already told you I know much of these objects."

"Great!" said Ethan. "If you help bring our friends back, we'll give you the spheres afterwards."

"I don't think you understand the situation," the man said with a sneer. "The Millennium Spheres belong to me. You don't get to barter over them, since they were never yours to begin with."

"And what if I refuse to hand them over?" Ethan challenged.

The man lifted the right side of his overcoat, revealing an elegant golden dueling disk on his belt. "Then I'll have to use force."

A duel? This man was massive, yet his definition of "force" was a duel? Ethan thought back to his last duel and shuddered inwardly. The man's dueling disk looked like it was composed of the same material as the spheres, and Ethan had very little doubt that it had similar capabilities.

"No," replied Ethan. "I'm not dueling you. There's no way I'm going through that again."

The man removed his glove again, and the ring glinted in the sun. "You have two options," he said. "Duel, and the only stake will be the spheres. Refuse, and I'll send you to the Shadow Realm." The man paused and looked at the duelists behind Ethan. "ALL of you."

The Shadow Realm. So that's what it was called. That's why the others were unconscious now. Their minds were no longer a part of this world. Ethan looked back at the others. What choice did he have? He couldn't let that happen to the rest of them. "Alright," he sighed, sliding the duel disk onto his arm. "I'll duel you."

"No you won't!" came a voice from next to him. Ethan looked to his left in surprise. One of the other duelists, Derek, had his own duel disk on and activated. "You may be the strongest duelist here, but you've been through three tough duels already. Let me take on this guy!"

"Not alone!" came another voice, this time to Ethan's right. Marcus had stepped up, his own duel disk ready. "I'll help you. He won't be able to stand against the two of us!"

"Two opponents?" the man snorted. "No matter. I'll crush you both anyway." He took the gold duel disk and slid it onto his left arm. "Let's duel!"

--

"So…how does this work?" asked Derek. "I've never dueled two-on-one before."

"I don't remember any specific rules regarding this," replied Marcus. "I believe the most common way is to allow the lone duelist twice as many life points, but he has to beat each of his opponents separately. Another method is to give the duelist pair one set of life points, and when that has been expended, they both lose simultaneously."

"As the challenger, I'll determine the rules," their opponent said. "You two will play as one duelist. This means that between you, there may only be five monsters and five spells on the field. Only one of you may play a monster each turn, and only one of you may draw each turn. You will share 4000 life points, and I will also have 4000 life points. Also, since I'm the challenger, I'll go first."

"What deck will you be using?" Marcus asked Derek.

"I'm counting on my Magicians to win this duel," replied Derek with a smile.

"A monster-themed deck. Alright," said Marcus. He opened one of the cases on his belt and took out a deck. "This deck will complement yours nicely, I think."

Marcus and Derek inserted their decks into their duel disks, which lit up. "Where's your deck, uh…" Derek began to ask, then stopped. "We don't even know who you are. What's your name?"

"You may call me Nakhti," the man replied.

"Where's your deck, Nakhti?" Derek finished.

"I do not have a physical deck, as most of the creatures that I shall be using have never been reproduced as cards," Nakhti replied. "However, I will be constrained to the same rules as you. Just watch."

Six blank stone blocks rose from the ground in front of Nakhti. "I'll start by summoning Hapi, Son of Horus to the field," Nakhti said. In response, one of the stone blocks rotated, revealing the carved image of a baboon. The carving shone with a bright yellow light, and the baboon materialized on the field. An outline of the monster appeared on one of the sections of Nakhti's duel disk.

"That's quite a unique way of dueling," commented Marcus.

"On the contrary," replied Nakhti, "This was a common way of settling disputes in ancient Egypt. Monsters were sealed within blocks of granite, and sorcerers released them to battle each other. You are seeing the game as it was originally played."

"Fair enough," said Marcus. "Can I assume that you're done with your turn?"

"I am. Now show me what you can do," replied Nakhti.

Derek reached for his deck, but Marcus stopped him. "Hold on. Only one of us can draw each turn; I recommend that you let me do it this time."

"That's fine with me," said Derek. "Do you mind if I play our monster for the turn?"

"Not at all. Unless I say otherwise, you can play the monster each turn," Marcus told him.

"Works for me. I'll summon Royal Magical Library in defense mode!" A massive semicircle of bookshelves rose from the ground. Three dim green globes sat atop it.  
"Excellent move," smiled Marcus. "Now I'll activate Meteor of Destruction, dealing 1000 points of direct damage to you, Nakhti!"

As the meteor sped towards Nakhti, he raised his arm to cover his face, but made no other movements. The meteor struck him hard, but Nakhti seemed completely unharmed. He lowered his arm slowly. "Interesting strategy," he said, "but it will take much more than that to defeat me.

One of the Library's globes lit up. "We've got more than that," Derek said with a grin, realizing what Marcus had done. "Each time a spell is played, my Library gains a spell counter. When there are three counters, I can remove them to draw a card!"

The other duelists cheered, and Ethan smiled. Marcus had picked a deck that would support Derek's magicians perfectly. He was definitely a skilled duelist, and it was showing.

"I'll play one card face down, and that's it," said Derek. "Marcus?"

"I'll also play a card face down. Your move, Nakhti."

Another stone block rose from the ground. Nakhti studied it, then looked at the others. "I'll summon Sebek, Lord of the Nile," he decided. One of the blocks rotated to face Derek and Marcus, this one depicting an alligator. Again, the carving glowed, and again, the monster appeared on the field.

"Sorry, but Sebek is much too weak to destroy my Library," Derek said. "Our life points are safe."

"I'm not so sure of that," replied Marcus. "Why would he play Sebek in attack mode unless he intended to attack with it? It must have some special ability."

"Attack mode? There were no 'modes' in the Shadow games," Nakhti told them. "The game is called Duel Monsters because the monsters are intended to battle each other. For that reason, all of my monsters are summoned ready to fight. But you were right about the ability, Marcus," he continued. "Sebek, Lord of the Nile can my opponent directly, bypassing any defenses they may have."

Sebek disappeared, then reappeared behind Derek's Library. It dealt a blow to both duelists, then returned to its original position. As their life points fell to 2800, Nakhti's increased to 4200. "Now the second ability of Sebek has been manifested. Whenever it deals damage, I gain that many life points," Nakhti said. "I'll end my turn."

Derek instinctively drew a card and looked at it. "Remember, Derek, only one of us can draw each turn," Marcus warned. "Nakhti is an experienced duelist, and we can't afford to make any mistakes. However, we can defeat him if we work together."

"Oh…right. Sorry, Marcus," Derek said apologetically.

"Don't worry about it," Marcus replied with an encouraging smile. "The card you drew will put us at a significant advantage if you use it correctly."

"Right," agreed Derek, placing the card on his duel disk. "I'll summon Skilled White Magician, in attack mode!" He selected another card and slid it into his duel disk. "Also, I'll activate Fissure, destroying your Sebek!"

The ground split open under Nakhti's monster, swallowing it. At the same time, another of the Library's globes lit up, and an orb on the Magician's shoulder glowed. "I'm not done yet," Derek continued. "As you probably noticed, playing Fissure put a spell counter on both of my monsters. Finally, I'll activate my face down card, Pitch-Black Power Stone!"

A black stone appeared on the field. On it was a golden triangle. "Once per turn, this stone allows me to add a spell counter to one of my monsters," Derek explained. "It only lasts for three turns, but that's long enough to be very useful to me. So I'll start by adding another counter to my Library!" One of the corners of the triangle faded, and the final globe of the Library lit up.

"Since there are three counters on my Library, I can remove them to allow one of us to draw a card. Marcus, would you do the honors?"

The globes atop the Library faded as Marcus drew. "Thank you, Derek," he said with a smile. "Now it's my turn to help you. I activate the magic card Ookazi! But you know how this works by now, Nakhti. You take damage; we gain spell counters."  
A fire sprang up around Nakhti, and his life points dropped to 3400. An orb on each of Derek's monsters lit up. "That won't be all," Marcus continued. "Derek, are you going to attack?"

"Yes, I am," Derek responded. "Go, Skilled White Magician! Destroy his monster!" The sorcerer lifted his staff and launched a magical blast at Hapi, obliterating it and reducing Nakhti's life points to 3200. "That's all for now," Derek said confidently. "Your move, Nakhti."

"Very clever," said Nakhti, "but you have yet to see my deck's true power. Fortunately, your ignorance will be cured this turn."

Derek and Marcus looked at each other. They had played brilliantly so far, and their opponent wasn't even fazed! Ethan was worried, too. What was Nakhti planning?

--

As he waited for Nakhti to make his move, Ethan looked around. He was surprised at how dark it had gotten. The sun was slowly setting behind their adversary, covering the field in a dim orange light. Thank goodness that there's still SOME light, thought Ethan. The darkness brought back memories of his last duel, and that was the last thing he wanted to think about right now. He focused on the current duel, noticing that another granite slab had joined the ones in front of Nakhti.

Nakhti looked at the new stone briefly, but his attention soon turned to the leftmost stone. "I'll summon Qebehsenuef, Son of Horus," Nakhti declared as the granite block rotated to face the two duelists. The shadows covering the face of the stone were suddenly broken by a bright golden outline of a hawk. The outline was extruded into the hawk itself, which flew forward and landed lightly on the field.

"It's too bad you have to play Qebehsenuef in attack mode," said Derek. "It looks pretty weak to me."

"Looks can be deceiving," replied Nakhti. "This demigod may be lacking in physical strength, but its value to me lies in its other abilities."

"I can't imagine it will last long enough to use them," returned Derek. "You've already summoned this turn, and unless you want to attack, your turn is over."

"Watch it, Derek," cautioned Marcus. "We don't know anything about Nakhti's deck. Qebehsenuef might be much more powerful than it looks."

"You speak wisely, Marcus," said Nakhti. "Much more so than your impetuous partner. All of my creatures have hidden strengths, and I'll call upon one of them now. Come forth, Khepri! Grant me the power I need to finish this duel!"

"Khepri! What?" exclaimed Derek, as two more of the stone blocks rotated to face him. A large scarab beetle appeared, bearing a giant sphere. Bright rays of light shot out of the sphere, increasing in intensity until the field was bathed in light. Just when it seemed that the light was becoming unbearable, it disappeared. Derek, Marcus, and the others were left blinking, trying to see what had happened.

Ethan peered into the darkness. Like the others, he had been temporarily blinded by the intense light, and the last rays of sunlight were impeding any vision he had regained. Ethan could barely make out a large silhouette…was…was it a scorpion?

The creature was becoming clear to the others, too. It had a spiked purple body and glossy black claws. There was an eye on its back similar to the one on Nakhti's ring, to their surprise. Derek and Marcus looked at the beast, then at Nakhti.

"Where did that come from?" asked Derek in disbelief.

"I can sacrifice my monsters immediately after playing them to release their inner power," Nakhti replied. "The power of Khepri, the Sun Attendant allows me to summon an additional creature this turn. That creature is the goddess Serket, the protector of Qebehsenuef."

"Interesting," mused Marcus. "Nakhti is using his monsters as spell cards. Apparently his deck isn't as one-dimensional as it originally seemed."

"Interesting?!" Derek exclaimed. "Look at that scorpion! It's bigger than either of my monsters!"

Marcus looked over at his shaken partner. "Calm down, Derek," he said reassuringly. "We can still win this duel if we keep our heads and continue to play as a team."

Derek turned to Marcus, about to thank him for the support. But he was interrupted by Nakhti's powerful voice calling, "Mystical Beast Serket! Destroy Skilled White Magician!"

The gigantic scorpion clamped its claws on Derek's monster and began devouring it. Derek looked on in disbelief as their life points dropped to 2000. He turned back to Marcus, frustrated. "We can win this? What do you mean, we can win this?" He pointed a shaking hand at Serket. "Look! Look at that! It's bigger now than when he played it! It's stronger than any of the monsters in my deck!" Derek lowered his dueling disk. "I know a hopeless duel when I see it. I'm quitting."

Marcus grabbed Derek violently. "Get a hold of yourself! This duel's not over! I don't care if you can't destroy Serket! Just protect our life points long enough for me to burn his away!" He released his grip on Derek and drew a card.

"Marcus-" began Derek angrily.

"Quiet," Marcus cut him off, just as angrily. "You'll get your chance to draw."

Derek looked at him, furious. "Fine," he said. "I'll play Skilled Dark Magician in defense mode." A sorcerer clothed in black appeared on the field and dropped to one knee, holding up his staff protectively.

"Alright," said Marcus. "I play Graceful Charity!" He discarded two cards from his hand and looked at Derek. "Draw three cards."

"Marcus-" Derek repeated, but this time it was completely in surprise.

"Just draw," said Marcus. "I have all the cards I need."

Derek did so. He looked over his new cards as one of the gems on the Skilled Dark Magician's robes glowed. "I'll activate Magical Blast," he decided. "This deals 200 damage to you for each of my spellcasters." Nakhti's life points dropped to 2800, and another of the Magician's gems shone. "Finally, I'll use the effect of my Pitch-Black Power Stone." The final gem lit up.

Derek smiled. Maybe Marcus was right; at any rate, things didn't look so dismal now. "Now that Skilled Dark Magician has three spell counters, I'll sacrifice him to summon the Dark Magician!" A great sorcerer dressed in bright red robes appeared on the field. Derek looked back at his hand, then suddenly remembered something. "Marcus, want to draw a card? My Library has three counters now, too."

Marcus looked up at the Royal Magical Library. Sure enough, all three globes were lit. "Sounds good to me," he said, drawing. "Thanks, Derek."

"No problem," Derek replied. He looked at his remaining two cards, selected one, and slid it into his duel disk. "I'll activate Magic Formula, increasing the attack of my Dark Magician by 700 points!" Derek also inserted his final card into his duel disk, declaring, "I'll also play one card face down. Marcus, do you want to play anything before I attack?"

Marcus examined the two cards in his hand. "No, I don't think there's much I can add to your move," he said with a smile. "I will play one card face down though."

"Alright. Dark Magician, attack Mystical Beast Serket!"

The magician raised his staff to attack, but before he could do so, one of Nakhti's stones rotated and glowed. A serpent emerged from the stone and began circling around Serket and Qebehsenuef. It left a trail of darkness behind it, eventually covering Nakhti's side of the field with a shadowy dome.

"You didn't think that I'd let you destroy my monsters so easily, did you?" Nakhti laughed from the darkness. "I release the power of Apep the Deceiver! As long as his shadows cover the field, you may not attack. However, I may voluntarily clear the shadows by attacking with my own monsters."

Ethan shuddered. He remembered this feeling all too well: The darkness surrounding his opponent, punctuated by a disembodied voice. He looked around, realizing with a start that the sun had gone down completely, with only the holograms from the duel providing light. Ethan didn't like it, and he hoped that Derek and Marcus would end the duel soon.

"Well, I can't do anything else," said Derek, clearly disappointed. "How about you, Marcus?"

"I'm finished as well," Marcus responded. "Your move, Nakhti."

Although they couldn't see it, a grinding sound informed them that another granite block had risen in front of their opponent. "I'll deal with your Dark Magician next turn," Nakhti's voice said. "But now, my target is your Library!" The shadows parted, revealing Serket poised to attack.

"Hold on!" called Marcus. "I'll activate Ring of Destruction to destroy your Mystical Beast Serket!" Immediately a band of explosives appeared and attached itself to the scorpion.

"Marcus, are you crazy? That will kill us too!" cried Derek.

"Relax," replied Marcus with a smile. "I'll also activate the card I set last turn, Poison of the Old Man. This will increase our life points by 1200!"

"Great!" exclaimed Derek. "That means we win!" Then he groaned. One of Nakhti's blocks was rotating.

"Not quite," declared Nakhti, "for now I invoke the power of Isis, Mother of Egypt!" A woman in white robes emerged from the now glowing stone, and held her hand out towards Serket.

"Not another one," Derek sighed. "What does she do?"

"For the remainder of this turn and the duration of yours, I cannot take any damage and my monsters cannot be destroyed. This negates the effect of your ring, Marcus."

The explosives detonated, but nothing else happened. Isis disappeared from the field. "Now, Serket, continue your attack!" Nakhti called. "Destroy that Royal Magical Library!"

The scorpion leapt upon the Library and tore it apart within its claws. Serket glowed briefly as it grew in size.

Marcus noticed Derek staring dejectedly at the field. "Come on, Derek, this isn't over yet," he said encouragingly. "You've still got a powerful monster out, and we have the most life points now."

"I just…it's just…so frustrating to duel against this guy," Derek replied, still looking down. "We've had two chances to destroy his monster, and now it's stronger than my Dark Magician again. It's the most powerful monster I've ever faced. I just don't know how we're going to defeat it."

"Don't worry about it," said Marcus reassuringly. "We'll find a way to destroy Serket and to defeat Nakhti. I'm sure of it." However, even he had his doubts. What defense was there against a beast that already seemed indestructible, and grew in power every turn?

--

"I guess it's our turn again," said Derek. "Which one of us should draw?"

Marcus looked at the card in his hand. "Well, this isn't going to do me any good unless I have another card or two," he replied. He looked over at Derek's empty hand and continued, "Of course, you don't have anything to play, either. It's up to you."

Derek looked at the cards on his duel disk, thinking. Finally he said, "Why don't you draw. I think I can manage with what I've got, for now anyway."

"Alright," Marcus said. He took a deep breath, knowing the importance of the next draw, but exhaled it in a disappointed sigh as he saw what the card was. Chain Burst was generally a useful card, but it wouldn't help him at all against an opponent who didn't use traps.

"No luck?" asked Derek, seeing Marcus's expression.

"Sorry, Derek," replied Marcus. "Not this time."

"I see." Derek reluctantly turned his monster card horizontal. "I switch Dark Magician into defense mode. That's all."

"Very well," said Nakhti, briefly eyeing his new creature. "I'll attack Dark Magician with Mystical Beast Serket!"

Marcus grimaced, but Derek confidently called, "I don't think so! Activate Magical Hats!"

A black hat appeared, concealing the Dark Magician. It replicated into four identical hats. "My Dark Magician is under one of these hats," said Derek, "but the only way for you to determine which one is by attacking each hat individually."

"You want me to play a guessing game with your monster?" Nakhti snorted. "No matter. Serket, attack the hat on the far right!" The giant scorpion instantly swung its massive tail down at the indicated hat. The hat disappeared, leaving nothing but air in its place.

"Bad guess," smiled Derek, hoping his expression would conceal his inner worry. He only had three turns left, at most, and he was sure that Nakhti would hit the right hat before then.

Nakhti apparently came to a similar conclusion, for he said, "Those hats won't stop me for long. And," he continued, "since I doubt you'll leave that protection, I'll summon the Oracle of Ptah." As he said this, one of the stone blocks rotated to display the image of a robed man. The man appeared on the field and stood alertly. "I'll end my turn with that," Nakhti finished.

"The Magical Hats should hold him off for a while," Derek told Marcus. "Why don't you draw this time?"

Marcus did so, but the card, Accumulated Fortune, was still of no use to him. "We're done," he said, frustrated. "Your turn."

Nakhti frowned as his next stone rose, but continued on as usual. "Mystical Beast Serket, attack the hat in the middle!" Once again Serket struck, and once again it came up empty. "Luck appears to be on your side, for now at least," he told Derek. "But your Magician can't hide forever. Your move."

"Derek, I think you should draw," Marcus said. "My deck doesn't have much in the way of defense, and we need something to protect our life points."

"You're right," conceded Derek. "Let's hope this card can help us." He drew, looked at the card, and looked up with a smile as he slid it into his duel disk. "I activate Knight's Title!" he said with relief. "This lets me tribute my Dark Magician to summon the Dark Magician Knight!" The Dark Magician leapt out of his hiding spot as his staff morphed into a sword.

Derek looked at the new monster with approval, and added, "When my Dark Magician Knight comes into play, he automatically destroys one monster! I choose your Mystical Beast Serket!"

The Knight drew his glowing sword back, then swung it forward, launching a red arc at Nakhti's monster. It passed through the scorpion, which disintegrated.

"Nice move, Derek!" Marcus called. "And don't forget that since your Magic Formula card was sent to the graveyard, we gain 1000 life points!" As if to confirm this, their duel disks changed to display 4200.

"That's right!" exclaimed Derek, remembering the card's effect. "Now, Dark Magician Knight, attack Nakhti's hawk!" The warrior charged at Qebehsenuef, obliterating it with a powerful swing of his sword. Nakhti's life points dropped to 400. "Your turn, Nakhti," Derek said confidently.

Nakhti didn't reply, but instead looked at his new monster with approval. "I, too, will tribute one monster to summon another," he said. "I sacrifice my Oracle of Ptah to summon Ptah, the Creator!" The robed man was replaced with a much larger human figure, wrapped in cloth and bearing an ankh. "I'll also invoke the power of Duamutef, Son of Horus to increase his strength! Duamutef raises Ptah's attack power based on how many creatures are in my graveyard. And there are quite a few."

Eight ghostly figures emerged from the ground and circled Ptah. One by one they entered him, until only the gigantic glowing figure of the god remained.

"He's almost as powerful as Serket was!" cried Derek.

"Indeed," confirmed Nakhti, "and now Ptah is strong enough to destroy your Dark Magician Knight!" The great being shone with a dark green light, and the ground below Derek's monster crumbled and collapsed, taking the Dark Magician Knight with it. Derek and Marcus's life points dropped to 3400.

"We're in bad shape," stated Marcus. "We desperately need defenses that we don't have. You'll have to take this next draw, Derek."

Derek nodded, but he felt almost ready to give up again. Nakhti kept bringing out powerful monsters, stronger than any Derek had ever seen. He knew for a fact that none of his monsters were strong enough to stand up to Ptah. But, he decided, as long as Marcus still has hope, so do I.

Derek looked at his new card, but felt only marginally better. Pot of Greed was a good card, but there was a limit to how helpful his new draws could be. "I'll play Pot of Greed," he said, sliding the card into his duel disk. He drew two cards, and looked at them in surprise. "I'll set a monster and play one card face down," Derek said, adding the two cards to his duel disk. "That's all."

Marcus looked over at Derek, a bit worried. He calmed down a bit when he saw Derek's expression, though. Derek seemed confident enough, and at least they had a monster between Ptah and their life points.

Nakhti's new stone rotated almost as soon as it rose. "I call upon the power of Ma'at, the Judge!" he declared. "Her ability switches our life points." A woman in a throne appeared, holding forth a scepter.

"What!?" cried Derek, watching in disbelief as his life point counter altered to display 400. Nakhti's disk now showed 3400. Marcus couldn't believe it either. He looked at his duel disk twice, as if the second look would change the numbers in front of him.

"Because Ptah is the Creator, he makes summoning much easier," Nakhti continued. "I'll use his power to bring forth Geb, Personification of the Earth!" Another humanoid figure joined Ptah; this one had dark brown skin and was clothed in tan robes.

"You fought well, but it's time for me to end this duel and claim the Millennium Spheres," Nakhti told the two duelists. "Ptah, destroy that face down monster!"

"Sorry, Nakhti, but you haven't won yet!" returned Derek. "I activate Magic Cylinder!" The increasingly bright light surrounding Ptah was drawn into one of the cylinders, and now both of them glowed dark green. The ground shook violently, and a green blast of energy was shot at Nakhti from the other cylinder. The blast hit him hard, and he took two steps backwards in order to steady himself. Nakhti's life points fell to 100.

"Impressive, said Nakhti shakily, "but I still have another being ready to attack. Geb, destroy that monster!" An old robed man appeared long enough to launch a magical blast into the air, then was destroyed.

"You've triggered the ability of my Old Vindictive Magician," called out Derek. "When he's flipped face up, I can destroy one monster on the field. I target Ptah, the Creator!"

The blast that had remained suspended in the air now shot towards Ptah and collided with a bright flash. When the light faded, Ptah was gone.

Nakhti clenched his fists, furious at the destruction of his monster. "You may have destroyed Ptah," he said angrily, "but now you're defenseless. Geb will defeat you next turn. You have no hope to survive."

Derek looked at Marcus, then at the empty field before them. The duel was closer than it had ever been, and they couldn't afford to make any mistakes. They had to win next turn, or they wouldn't win at all. But how was it possible? What could possibly get past Nakhti's creature?

--

"Which one of us should draw?" Derek nervously asked. "Any monsters I draw can block Geb, but that won't do us any good if he summons another monster."

"That's true," replied Marcus. He remained silent for a moment, thinking about the last few turns. Every time Derek had drawn, the card had saved them for another turn. Every time he had drawn, the card had been useless. He didn't want to let down Ethan and the others with another dead draw. But this is a good deck, Marcus's thoughts continued. I've never been so unlucky; in fact, most of the times that I've used this deck, I've won in the first few turns. These lousy draws can't continue. He looked over at Derek. Derek is relying on me to help him win this duel. He's willing to trust my judgment here, despite my poor play in the past. What should I do?

"Marcus?" prompted Derek, noting his vacant expression.

Marcus didn't respond, but instead drew a card. He looked at it briefly, then slid all four cards in his hand into his duel disk. "Your move, Nakhti," Marcus said emotionlessly.

Derek stared at Marcus, trying to determine what he was thinking. Marcus had a very serious look on his face. He clearly knew the gravity of the situation, but there was an uncertainty in his eyes. What's he uncertain about? wondered Derek. Marcus knows what his cards do. Either his strategy will work or it won't. He looked at Marcus again. Yes, that look definitely was one of doubt. It had neither the confidence of a winning move, nor the resignation of a losing one. Derek gave up and resolved to wait it out to see what happened.

As Nakhti eyed the new stone in front of him, Marcus knew he had to act. He needed to activate Accumulated Fortune, which required him to also activate at least three other cards. He knew that two of those cards might hinder them or even cause them to lose the duel outright, but there was nothing he could do. Marcus also knew that he was relying on chance to win the duel, but there was a possibility that they would emerge victorious once he made this move.

"I'll start by invoking the power of Sokar, Adorned One," said Nakhti. "By sending him to the graveyard, I can destroy two of your face down cards." He gestured toward the two cards on the right.

"Hold on, Nakhti!" Marcus called. He started to activate all of his cards, but stopped. Since that effect was the first link, I don't have to activate Chain Burst, he realized. "Before that effect resolves, I'll activate three of my face down cards, including the two that you would have destroyed!"

Marcus paused as his first card appeared. This was the key card. He took a deep breath, then said, "This card is called The Paths of Destiny! Each of us flip a coin, and if the result is heads, we gain 2000 life points. If it's tails, we lose 2000 life points."

The second image became visible, and Marcus said, "But before that card resolves, Chain Strike takes effect, dealing 1200 damage to you!" Marcus smiled as he realized that he didn't need to worry about gambling with The Paths of Destiny, since Chain Strike would eliminate Nakhti's life points before it could take effect.

"And before that card resolves, I'll activate my final card, Accumulated Fortune. This lets Derek and I draw two cards." Satisfied, Marcus reached for his deck. He noticed Derek smiling happily out of the corner of his eye.

"Don't be so sure of your victory," Nakhti told them calmly. "I'll use the effect of Anubis, Lord of the Dead!" A man with a jackal's head briefly appeared on the field, and Nakhti's life points increased to 1800. "Anubis gives me 100 life points for every monster in every graveyard. There are seven in your graveyard and ten in mine, for a total increase of 1700 points!"

Derek's grin faded, and Marcus viciously punched his duel disk in frustration. "Now you may draw," finished Nakhti with a small smile of his own.

Marcus stared directly at Nakhti, with his fists clenched in rage. Derek had called this duel frustrating, but that was understatement. It was simply maddening to duel against a person who calmly countered every move you made, then summoned massive creatures to dismantle your defenses.

"Calm down, Marcus," said Derek. "As you told me earlier, no matter how bad the situation looks, the duel still isn't over, and as long as the duel isn't over, there's still hope. We can still win this duel, so we might as well draw."

Marcus looked at Derek and sighed. "You're right. You can draw both cards, if you like. If Nakhti flips tails, we'll win, but if he flips heads, he'll have too many life points for me to burn away next turn. Because of that, we'll need a defense, and your deck can provide that."

Derek nodded in assent, and drew the cards. "Now the effect of Chain strike activates, dealing 1200 damage to you," said Marcus. Nakhti's life point counter changed to read 600.

"And now," said Marcus, taking a deep breath, "let's see what fate has in store for us." As he pulled a coin out of his pocket, Nakhti rotated the top of his ring, detaching it from the band.

Nakhti held out the disk and said, "The eye will be heads, and the flat back will be tails." Marcus confirmed this with a nod. Nakhti tossed the object into the air, letting it fall onto the ground. The eye looked back up at him.

Derek groaned as Nakhti's life points climbed to 2600. He then looked expectantly at Marcus as Nakhti reattached the disk to his ring. Marcus followed Nakhti's example, tossing the coin into the air and letting it land on the ground. He peered at the ground, trying to see though the darkness which side was facing up. Derek waited anxiously.

"Yes!" Marcus exclaimed in relief as he finally made out the image on the coin. It was heads. He scooped up the coin as his duel disk changed to read 2400. Derek and Marcus exchanged relieved looks, just before they heard Nakhti call, "Attack their life points directly!"

Geb swooped in with a mighty blow that knocked both duelists flat. Their life points dropped to 100. "Your turn," Nakhti concluded.

"No way," muttered Derek, looking at the cards in his hand.

"Derek, is everything alright?" questioned Marcus.

"Hmm?" asked Derek, looking up suddenly. "Oh, right. Yeah. Everything's fine. Go ahead and draw." His attention returned to his cards.

"Okay, I guess," replied Marcus. He drew a card and looked at. Things were looking up now; if Nakhti played a monster, this card, Just Desserts, would win the duel for them. "I'll play one card face down," said Marcus. "Derek, what can you do?"

"What can I do? Just this," said Derek with a smile. "I activate Dark Magic Curtain! By paying half our life points, I can special summon my Dark Magician!" His life point counter dropped to 50, but the Dark Magician reappeared on the field. "Next, I'll activate Thousand Knives to destroy your monster!"

The Dark Magician sent dozens of knives flying towards Geb, skewering him. Geb dropped to his knees, fell forward, then disappeared.

"Now Dark Magician, attack Nakhti's life points directly! Dark Magic Attack!"

Nakhti's eyes widened as the magical blast sped towards him. It hit him hard, and the impact almost knocked him off his feet. Nakhti steadied himself as his life points dropped to 100.

Marcus breathed a sigh of relief. Once again, Derek had saved them. He desperately hoped that they could end the duel next turn, before Nakhti had a chance to strike back. But Nakhti had always had some new trick each time it seemed they were going to win. Would this time be different?

--

A hush had fallen over the people watching the duel. Everything was on the line here, and neither side would last for much longer. If Nakhti could destroy the Dark Magician, he would win. If he couldn't, Derek and Marcus would win. The tension was almost tangible.

The silence was broken by the sound of a new stone slab rising from the ground. Nakhti examined it, nodding slowly. Finally, he said, "I'll use the power of Imsety, Son of Horus to return a monster from my graveyard to my hand." The new stone block rotated to show the engraved outline of Imsety, which glowed briefly as the rock sank back into the earth. Another one rose up simultaneously as one of Nakhti's monsters returned to his hand.

"Now that all four sons of Horus are in my graveyard, I can move Horus, God of the Sky from my deck to my hand," continued Nakhti. A third stone block joined the first two. "Now I'll play Oracle of Horus," Nakhti declared as the leftmost block turned to face his opponents. A man in yellow robes appeared on the field.

"Oh no," moaned Derek. He remembered Nakhti's Oracle of Ptah, and was sure that this one had a similar effect.

"Hold on, Nakhti!" Marcus called. "Before you can summon Horus, I'll activate Just Desserts to deal 500 damage to you!"

Nakhti met Marcus's smile with one of his own. "I've studied your play style during this entire duel, and I anticipated that you'd play a card like that. Against most duelists, you would have won with it." Nakhti paused, allowing one of his blocks to rotate. "But the monster that I returned with Imsety was Isis, Mother of Egypt. Once again, I shall call on her to protect me."

Marcus dropped to his knees, stunned, realizing he was powerless to prevent Nakhti's next move. Derek looked on dully, trying to keep his disappointment hidden. They had come so close, and now they had lost. He didn't even see Nakhti summon Horus, or hear him declare the attack. The darkness remaining after the holograms faded was the only sign that the duel was over.

"Stand up," Nakhti commanded. Marcus didn't hear him. "Stand up!" Nakhti repeated. "Your loss was inevitable, but you did manage to last much longer than most of my opponents. You dueled well, and there's no reason for you to be on the ground."

Marcus slowly rose to his feet, shaking off the stupor that had gripped him. Derek walked over to join him, as did the rest of the duelists. Their eyes had adjusted to the darkness somewhat, and were all too aware of Nakhti's now outstretched hand.

"But, you still lost. And we had a bargain," Nakhti continued. "Give me the Millennium Spheres." Ethan hesitated. "Your souls are as good as anyone else's, and I have no problem removing them from your bodies." Nakhti's voice was icy now; there wasn't enough emotion in it for it to be considered angry, but one couldn't help being intimidated by it nonetheless.

Ethan sighed, knowing that resistance would be pointless. "We have a few here, but most of the spheres are inside the laboratory."

"Take me to them," Nakhti commanded.

--

As they walked down the halls, Ethan couldn't help feeling a bit sick at what he was doing. He had no idea why Nakhti wanted the spheres, but he knew what they were capable of, and he hated to be putting them in the wrong hands. Well, Ethan thought, it could be worse. Maybe Nakhti has a legitimate reason for wanting these items. It can't hurt to ask. He did so.

Nakhti didn't answer at first, and Ethan began to wonder if he had even heard the question. As Ethan opened his mouth to repeat the question, though, Nakhti spoke.

"I am a Tomb-Keeper. We are in charge of keeping the sacred relics for the true Pharaoh until he returns. My clan has already amassed many artifacts, and we believe that these spheres are very important as well."

"The Pharaoh?" asked Ethan. He looked at his duel disk, trying to remember where he had heard something like this before. Ah! That was it! "Didn't he already come back? I think I remember there being a big deal about that about…was it 40 years ago?" Ethan paused, waiting for the details to come back again. "Yeah! That was when Duel Monsters was just being created! They had found some Millennium Items or something…some kid had put together a puzzle and became pretty good at the game. What was his name…"

Nakhti snorted. "That imposter. The weaker members of our clan, tired of waiting for the Pharaoh's return, drew their own conclusions about that child. They saw the puzzle, watched him duel, and decided in their impatience that he was the Pharaoh."

Nakhti stopped for a moment, apparently disgusted about the entire situation. "Those fools," he spat. "The Millennium Items were lost forever when Egypt was ravaged by the Dark One."

"Lost forever?!" exclaimed Ethan. This was completely different from what he had learned. "So how can the Pharaoh return?"

"For a long time, that was a mystery," replied Nakhti gravely. "For thousands of years, our clan was content merely to wait, assuming his spirit would manifest itself when he was ready. However, our new leader believes otherwise. Through careful study of the ancient scriptures, he's learned that our king will only return once the Millennium Items are reforged."

"And…and that's what you want the gold spheres for?" Ethan asked uncertainly. None of this sounded right to him.

"Exactly," confirmed Nakhti. "They were early prototypes of the true Millennium Items, meaning that they are the perfect composition to remake all seven items."

"Well…here they are," said Ethan as they entered one of the rooms.

Nakhti looked around approvingly. "Excellent. These spheres, and the souls that they contain, will be ideal for our purposes."

"Wait. The souls they contain?! What will happen to the souls?" Ethan cried.

"They'll be consumed in the reforging process, of course," Nakhti replied calmly. "That's how the original Millennium Items were made; we can't do it any differently and still hope to be successful."

Ethan looked frantically at the spheres, then at the other duelists, then back at Nakhti. "You can't do that!" he yelled. "Some of my friends have been trapped in there!"

"And the Pharaoh will graciously accept their sacrifices," Nakhti said. Ethan tried to say something, but couldn't. He could barely breathe.

Nakhti, apparently unconcerned, took one last look around the room before turning to leave. "There are too many spheres for me to take right now," he said. "I'll be back with some help tomorrow."

Ethan and the others stared after him, completely speechless.

--

Megan, one of the other duelists, was the first to speak up. "We have to do something about this! We need to call the police!"

"I don't believe that will do any good," replied Marcus. "First of all, Nakhti has done nothing explicitly wrong. There's no evidence that the spheres contain human souls. There's no proof that the spheres were here initially, either; to confirm that, the police would need a warrant to search this building, and there isn't sufficient time or justification for that. If Nakhti is to be stopped, I'm afraid it's up to us."

"That's true," Ethan mused. He glanced at his watch, noting that it was well past midnight. He looked up and addressed the others. "It's pretty late. We won't gain anything by staying here any longer, so here's what I recommend. Why don't we all head back to our homes and get some sleep, then come back tomorrow? Nakhti doesn't seem to be in any hurry, and it will take some time to load up all of the spheres into whatever vehicle he brings."

Another duelist named Ryan nodded. "Sounds like the best option we have. Does ten o'clock sound like a good time to return?"

Everyone agreed, and Ethan concluded, "So that's settled. See you all tomorrow." As they started to leave, he added, "Also, bring your duel disks. I don't know what will happen, but there's a good chance that we'll need to duel Nakhti or his associates sometime in the future. It's best to be prepared."

--

Upon arriving at the laboratory the next day, Ethan was greeted by the sight of a large flatbed truck in front of the building, partially filled with large crates. He noticed the others standing in a group, and went over to them.

"Is that Nakhti?" Ethan asked, gesturing toward the truck.

"That's him alright, and there are two other guys helping him," Matthew responded nervously.

"They appear to be loading the crates inside," commented Marcus. "Anyone seeing this would just assume it was a standard delivery or pickup."

"Makes sense," said Ethan. He considered the situation, trying to come up with some way of stopping their opponents.

"So what do we do?" asked Derek. "What CAN we do?"

Ethan had the same questions, and he wasn't any nearer than they were to coming up with an idea. But since the others seemed to be waiting for his response, he was forced to think out loud.

"Well, let's see. We don't have any way of preventing them from leaving with the spheres, short of force, and I don't think that's in our best interests." Ethan paused for a moment, looked around, then returned to his thoughts. "Dueling right here is out of the question. Nakhti already won fairly last night, and it's not like the others will suddenly stop helping him if we can defeat them." He looked at the truck again and got an idea. "The crates…they're big enough for us to fit inside. If we hid in them, we would be taken to wherever the Tomb-Keepers live, or at least to where the new Millennium Items would be made. Once we get there, we might have a chance of stopping it, somehow."

This time Andrew spoke up. "THAT'S your idea? That has got to be one of the stupidest things I've ever heard. First of all, we don't even know where their hideout is! Let's say we get there and defeat them, or whatever you think we can do. Then what? Where do we go? How do we get back?"

Ethan opened his mouth to reply, but Andrew cut him off. "Then there's the whole issue of riding in crates the entire way. Sure, they're almost big enough, but it will be cramped and bumpy. We could be in those things for several hours, too! Do you really think I'll do that just so some people I don't even know can wake up? I don't believe in any of that "soul" stuff, anyway. Look at me! I dueled, and I lost. But guess what? I'm still standing here, fully conscious!

"And if that weren't enough, consider the risk! There is a very high chance that these people will notice us getting in the crates, or notice the weight difference, or something! And if we get to the destination, will they just dump us in a warehouse, allowing us ample time to escape and hide? I don't think so. You can count me out; I'm not doing this."

Ethan sighed. It wasn't a great idea, sure, but at least it was better than nothing. He looked at Andrew. "Why did you come if you didn't want to help?"

"I'm a duelist," Andrew said sharply. "You said there might be dueling, and I can do that. I'm great at it. I'll duel anyone you want, but all of this cloak-and-dagger spy stuff is stupid, and you can leave me out of it."

"Alright," said Ethan. "I can't force you, or anyone else, to go along. I admit my idea isn't very plausible, but the truth is, I don't know what we can do to stop the Tomb-Keepers. I don't know how many members there are, or where they live, or how they'll convert the spheres into the Millennium Items. I don't know any of that, and I sure don't know how we'll stop them."

Ethan paused and looked at Andrew, then at the others. "However," he continued, "I do know that something happened to all of the duelists yesterday, and I'm convinced that it's connected with the spheres somehow. Because of that, I feel that we must do all that we can to prevent the Tomb-Keepers from creating the Millennium Items. Even if we have no solid plan, we can increase our chances of disrupting the process if we stay with those spheres."

Ethan gestured towards Andrew's duel disk. "We'll need your skills. Even if you," and here he turned towards the rest of the duelists, "or any of you, don't believe in magic, or souls, or the shadow realm, or any of that, I need you to support the rest of us who do. To us, it's a matter of life and death. I don't even know most of the people who fell unconscious yesterday, but that doesn't matter. What matters is that there are people who do know them and who care about them, people who are hurt by the loss of these duelists. It is our duty as fellow humans and fellow duelists to help them in any way possible."

"So you're just going to jump in some boxes and see what happens?" Andrew asked. "Have you even considered what the consequences could be?"

"I have," admitted Ethan. "And you know what? I'm scared." Ethan stopped and took a deep breath. It was one thing to feel fear and to just pass it off as apprehension or even excitement. But after hearing what he just said, Ethan realized the truth. He was scared and he knew it. But even with knowing that, there was nothing he could do but strengthen his resolve and go on with the plan.

"I have no idea where we'll be taken, who we'll meet, or what will happen to us. You or I or any of us could lose our souls or otherwise be harmed. We're taking a giant leap into the unknown here, all on the slight and very improbable chance that it will help less than ten people. But I think it's worth the risk.

"This is your decision. If you don't want to come along, I'll understand. Anyone who wants to back out is definitely entitled to do so. But there's strength in numbers, and I hope that all of you will see this through to the end. There's so much at stake that we risk letting slip through our fingers if we remain inactive. Please, for us and for the duelists we lost yesterday, help me carry out this task."

As Ethan finished, he felt a little surprised. He had never been much of a public speaker, but the dire situation had allowed him to express himself rather well, he thought. Ethan hoped it would be enough to sway the others. He looked at them in earnest anticipation.

Marcus was the first to step forward. "I'll help. Our defeat last night was unacceptable, and I'm looking forward to a rematch with Nakhti."

Derek joined him, merely nodding his assent. Megan followed, then Ryan. The other four stayed back, undecided. Finally Andrew let out an annoyed sigh and moved forward to join the group. "I want to duel the best," he said. "Judging by Nakhti's performance last night, I'll find that here."

That left Matthew, Emily, and Connor. "I'd really like to help you guys," Matthew offered, "but I don't know if I can handle it. I don't work well under pressure, and I don't think I'm quite ready to duel seriously again. I'm sorry," he finished apologetically.

Ethan grimaced, knowing that he was partially the cause of Matthew's apprehension and reluctance. "That's fine, Matthew," he said. "If you come, it should be because you want to, not because you feel obligated to." He turned to the other two. "The same goes for you two as well. I would appreciate your help, but I'll understand if you choose to decline."

"I understand why you want to do this," said Emily, "and I think you should do what you feel is right. But I'm not convinced by all of this talk of souls and shadows. I'm sure there's a perfectly reasonable explanation for what happened yesterday; it was most likely an equipment malfunction. I don't think that there's enough evidence to justify the risk of what you want to do."

"That's understandable," replied Ethan. "Connor?"

"Yeah, what she said," answered Connor indifferently. "It's cool if you want to do this, but count me out."

"I see," said Ethan grimly. "Well, the six of us will go on to the Tomb-Keepers' hideout. Hopefully we'll see you soon."

--

A short time later, Ethan waited with Ryan in one of the crates. He knew that the others were secured as well. It had been a fairly simple matter to climb into crates, which were only partially full, and have Matthew, Connor, and Emily reseal them. Nakhti and his cohorts had been occupied with filling the other crates inside the laboratory, and so far there was no indication that Ethan and the others had been noticed.

Suddenly, Ethan felt a jerk, then gradual acceleration. "Looks like we did it," he told Ryan happily as the truck began its journey back to the Tomb-Keepers' lair.  



End file.
